New Britain herald., 1918-02-02
Ed
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the war than Germany, jwili&
slowly but. inevi>Iy drifting towa&
some sort Of collapse. 1t is well to re-
member, however, that Germany ii
permanently a military power and
nelng such the only final argument
that counts is a blow Militarism can
only triumph through force, and can
only be defeated by the same means
1t is hardly likely that Germany's
military dynasty will surrender until
a knockout blow has been admins
tered. No such argument has vet
Eeen delivered, and probably will not
be until American armies have
reached France in sufficient force
to deliver it. Moreover, a military
dynasty, facing inevitable ruin, is
quite likely to sell it's life as dearly
as possible; and the fact that the
great majority Of Ger,nany's strong
men are In the army, comparatively
ignorant of the state of affairs at
nome, makes it reasonable to expect
that the military power will be ex-
erted to the very utmost The most
encouraging event Of the week there
TORE, was the arrival of a number Of
American transports in France with
a considerable body of men. Our
government has been Undoubtedly
spurred on by recent criticisms, and
such displays of energy will convince
Germany of our determination to
win far more quickly than any
threats, implied or actual. President
Wilson'S announcement that he be-
lieved the war would end this year
was also assuring and materially
strengthened peace hopes.
The extension nF povor,,,,, oo,,
troll over industry moved forward
very rapidly. Within a few DAYS the
oil industry has been placed under
government CONTROL buying for the
government has been put in single
hands; the coke industry has fallen
under government regulation, and
the shipping business has come
under dictatorship. Still further
proposals are under consideration:
one with view to regulating secur-
ity issues through the Federal Re-
serve board, limiting them to essen
uals; another the creation of a $780,
100000 banking corporation owned
by the government with power to
issue notes and make advances for
financing corporations necessary for
carrying on the war. Other incur
sions Of government into business are
evirent in storage, dairy products,
coffee, etc. The result of all these
changes is an inevitable element of
uncertainty that materially restraints
future commitments. They must be
regarded as necessary evils and
cheerfully accepted as part of the
sacrlt1ces to be made in order to win
the war, AT the same time, it is we'll
to stop and reflect how rapidly the
Sc, al,
cialisn. Such control is the next
step to state ownership with all its
perils and impracticable dogmas.
Great Britain has gone further in
this direction than ourselves, owing
to longer experience and greater
strain. Already the reaction against
such movements is setting in, and
complaints are multiplying in all di-
rections, from labor as we'll as cap
ital, Of the loss Of industrial free
dom. 1t should be insisted upon that
all commercial and industrial liber-
ties withdrawn on account of war
should be restored as promptly as
possible when peace comes.
Price fixing is another very import
ant phase in recent Government ac-
tivities. This. too. for the time being
must be regarded as a necessary evil.
Thus far the Governm ent has failed to
reduce prices which still show an ir-
resistible advancing tendency owing to
worldwide scarcity and increased
costs Of production and distribution.
Price fixing has been a failure III
Great Britain, France, Germany and
the United States. That prof1teering
in war times should be stopped soes
without saying, and it is in this di-
rection that the various governments