The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-05-03
remain unbreakable.


 they will not reach Amiens, anC remain unbreakable.
 But let there be no hosannas yet, and no ringing of bells. We should ring the bells when we have beaten Germany and have enforced peace which will save the world from en- slavement, and not before. We have prematurely claimed far too many iIlusory victories in this wara in the West. This mighty battle is not yet over. MT. Lloyd George was per fectly right when he said in his mes- sage to the United States that 1t Is "only just beginning
 I think the Germans will not make much more progress in the first phase because their losses have been very heavy, because their advance has been slower than they expected, be- cause they have had to use up their reserves very rapidly, and because they are just at the point when any offensive, however great, loes mo- mentum and begins to ebb little. Their main objective is Aimens, as I ventured to point out when the situation was still obscure. At the moment of writing they are still near- ly eleven miles from Aimens, and, though they have been maSsing for a fresh attack against our center. doubt whether they will get through, or will reach Arras on our left flank.
 There is very good defensive pos ittons between our present line and Aimens. We command the approach es to ArraS.
 | The French loss of the important railway junction of Montdidier is un- fortunate, but not necessarily dis dressing. Our Allies hold the western heights close to the town, and the main line to Paris passes nine miles further west Make no mistake about our gallant French comrades. They have fought splendidly to retrieve a very bad reverse, and they are be- ing admirably handled.
 Of the valor and fortitude of our own troops too much cannot be said. Already I have heard stories of the glorious self-sacrifce of some of our field batteries, which fired into the advancing Germans until the very last moment; of bands of sappers who gave their lives to blow uu bridges; ob noble doctors who stuck to the advanced stations and fell in. to the hands of the foe. The exploits of our airnen have excelled all pre- vious marvels in air warfare. Men of the Dominion did wondrous things as we shall hear later on. As for the , fncomparable infantry of these is- lands, they have magnificient1y sus- , tained the imperishable fame of Brit ish arms. The enemy have complete ly fsd1ed to destroy our armies, and : our line is inviolate
 Should the eGrmans fail to accom- p6sh their full purpose, this should be the decisive battle of the war. It shousd be decisive because they have . staked their whole position on the re- suit. Failure or even a half-success . means for them ruin. Their civil pop 5 ulation is very near starvation point. Unless Germany can get peace now } she is done. That is why she has tos- Sed all her available military re- sources into this terrible enterprise, and why, as I believe, Hfndenburg will also at the Snpremen moment try
 his luck with the German fleet, which
 he controls. Manifestly if the pres
 ent offensive fails to destroy the AL lied armies, Germany can make in the future no greater bid for victory.
 But why, if the Germans attain their
 military pupose, will the battle then
 prove indecisive? Because though
 they win Aimens, they will not win
 peace, the one thing they want. France
 would fight on, even with her back
 to the Pyrenees We should fight on 1a<rI, IT
 ally would fight on. We can make nc
 peace with a triumphant autocracy
 and therein lies the greatest of the enemy's nisca1culations. We have tc
 save civilization from the most sin.
 ister menace which has ever threat
 ened 1t. Better perish than yield al
 inch, better dfe than live enslaved. ,- Never was Easter Sunday so bis s with fate as this. If the battle stfI
 sways to and fro, think over the al ,+ ternatives which depend upon thu
 outcome. There is neither optimism
 nor pessism, but only common sense l. in weighing up the problem with clea lI1 eyes. Yesterday less than eleven mile
 separated us from the greatest militar
 disaster of the war. If the German
 get to A4mens, the will impern tn WhObe or OUT nOCnerSn IOSlC1OnS. ln61
 may cut us off from the main Frencl
 forces. They will be able to threat . en the Channel ports, and will hay
 entirely transformed the military pos
 ition. But will they have decisivel
 beaten us? WfH they be able to die
 tate peace? No, a thousandtimes nc or There are other measures possibl o' which will enable ussto continue tn lg war in France, perhaps even nor T. effectively than before. No need e. discuss them here, but rest assure a. that the changes which will b
 wrought if the Germans capture Aim DC ems have been fully froseen and pro te vjded for.
 ay On the other hand, supposing tn 1e enemy fail to reach Aimens, as be d. lieve they will fail. Supposing tn to whole line holds, as I hslieve it wi to fold. We must then expect a brie I'd Hull, followed by a swift renewal { ce the conflict, possibly by attacks upc in other parts of the Allied line in Fran, ay or Flanders. If the first phase of th ke battle stops far short of a German tr
 umph, we shall still be a very lon
 way from safety. But have sma
 fear about the later phases of the ba.
 AtIe If we foil che Germans ncyv V