New-York tribune., 1918-03-21
western Offensive Public
ity Believed Designed
to Confuse Allies
press Gossip Shows
Hand of Dictator
Strong Forces, However,
Have Been Massed I'm
der Able Leaders

u.sHlNGTON. March 2o.-Renewal
{. csrman talk Of great West front
ssonsive this spring is ascribed in Of
s'-:aI disnatches from Switzerland to-
,o- as due to the desire Of the Ger
General Staff to confuse the Al
hos as to Germany's real intentions.
Attention IS called. however, to the
.orcent-atiou of strong German forces
;. tho West under able leaders. Ger
many's advance notices of an attack, IN
-, words of the dispatch. probably are
assiened to unsettle opinion and to
,irculate inaccurate information.
German newspapers are quoted to
show that big armies have been put in
,he West, and increasing artillery &C
tv;tv, it is declared. may be Of more
than passing significance.
Say Offensive Is Near
"The German nress," say the dis
matches, "has been attempting recently
to convey the impression that the great
offensive so often announced against
the Franco-English front would be
postponed and perhaps even would not
take place. To-day. on the contrary,
an inverse tendency is to be noted in
Germany. Hindenburg and Ludendorf,
in an interview which they recently gave
TO the newspaper CORES spondents at
great headquarters, let it be under
stood that the hour OF the attack was
rot far distant, and that the French
mad dug their graves with their own
hands. These words were understood
to denote that the offensive had been
decided on; that it would be soon, and
it undoubtedly would be aimed particu-
larIy against the French.
"The reports which Germany is
Spreading may have a tendency in the
mind of the German General Staff to
unsettle opinion and upset predictions
by the circulation OF inaccurate infor-
nation. It is necessary in any case
to note these different manifestations.
Expect Gallwitz Attack
"A dispatch from Berlin to the
sizes the name OF Gallwitz. whose pres
Of the Crown Prince and that of Duke
toned by the German communique.
Their armies must be about $780, 900
strong in the Verdun-Luneville sector.
This army, which is an attacking army
and whose head is famous as an artil-
leryman of the highest order says this
dispatch, probably will not delay long
in assuming the offensive The cease
lessly increasing artillery activity in
the sector is besides highly charac-
teristic symptom. 1t is probable that
tue army which operated against Italy
uow forms a part OF the Gallwitz army
group
at is we'll to compare this dispatch
with the article that the military cor
respondents of the semi-official 'Nord-
deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung,' pub
hshed or March is, in this article, en-
titled. when Will the Offensive Be
Nade?' one reads this sentence: 1T is
very probable that the many divisions
that are now assembled on the West
front Will not be long Inactive 1t i:
true thai the same writer adds, Can il
be said that we will be postponing the
anal decision Il we do not attack al
once? Are there not other ways o.
crushing our adversaries? The shame
tul violence shown by the Entente tow
ard neutrals and particularly towart
Holland shows Us how much the sub
marine war menaces our enemies. Ever
Il we should not attack, the leaders o
the Entente will soon be themselve:
brought 10 ruin
Press Reports All Like
"The correspondent OF the 'Nationa
zeltung,' OF Basic, telegraphed to tina
paper on March Is, from Vienna:
According to my own impressions
official circles cannot count upon tn
Immediate success Of their pacifist ef
fo-sz and the starting of an attack OF
the West front seems inevitable.'
the dispatch concludes with tn
following comment:
II IS OF interest TO record all thes
press notes whose conclusions seem t
indicate that they are following orders