The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-07-04
MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE
CONTINUED from Page y

(COntlnueQ from rage J.
keep themselves and their children in
readiness to kill and be killed.
Two hours later we visited them in
camp. They were sitting and lying
about on the ground in sullen silence.
Many of them had not ven un%strapped
the packs from their backs. They ig-
nored the guards commands to do the
ordinary York of preparing the camp.
They were on a strike, u%nconcerned as
to anything that might happen to
them.
And wondered if they did not in
dex the attitude of the whole German
population at home, and the German
army itself. Surely, if these men, but
a day out of battle, could be reduced
to such a state of coma, then the whole
German army is not far from the
breaking point!
The sorry plight Of these men has
but deepened the impression l received
of Germany and her people when l Wis
tied that country two years ago. With
the exception of that portion of the
empire which borders on the Baltic
Sea, l think of Germany as shut in,
as a land of darkness and selfish sor-
didness. While her legions were bat
ting on her frontiers, the silence of
the interior was positively oppressive.
The strut and swagger of her war
lords was in marked contrast to the
The somber villages, the dull red
brick houses, the stretches of sandy
plains, the seeming lowness of the
earth, all gave me the same feeling as
does a low, marshy, wooded swamp en-
circled by highlands-some gruesome,
noxious place inhabited by strange
creatures who in some way are differ
ent from other creatures who live and
have their being.
No nation eve won so many victor
les as has Germany during this war,
and no nation was ever farther from
final victory. First, there was the vic
tory over Belgium-a nation, complete
ly crushed, her railroads, her seaports,
her industries, her towns and cities,
her farm lands, all in possession of
Germany. Surely, a great victory, and
how the German populace thrived on
it! Then the drive through France to
the gates of Paris, and the almost com
plete humiliation of the first British
army.
Then came the utter destruction of
a Russian army of FAC, 000-not a sin.
gle unit of this army was ever assem-
bled again. What food for the Ger
man populace! Followed the collapse
of the British efforts at the OAR
danelles with a loss of 11O, 900 men.
Victory sufficient to keep the German
pulse above normal for a easOn Next
they drove the Russians sheer three
hundred and fifty miles eastward and
captured Warsaw, after which they
cleaned up Serbia and Roumania.
Even though hunger began to pinch,
nourishment that could not be supplied
with food was furnished by the glory
of victories. The destruction of Mac
edonia and Albania and the hope of
an alliance with Greece furnished ad.
ditional substitutes for food.
Germany's people were demanding
food, either by victory or peace. Fail
ing a decisive military victory over
Russia, Germany resorted to bribery
of officials and propaganda among the
socialists, and for a season the Ger.
man people forgot their hunger. The
offensive against the Italians bridged
over another short period of foodless
days. During all these months Ger.
many r~everberated with victories-al
of them foodless.
Not much longer will the German
people endure famine. They are I'M
der-fed and under-nourished. The
slow, steady spread of hungertyphus
is reaching dimensions that can nc
longer be concealed. German soldiers
know the suffering of their wives and
children at home. To relieve them
they are fighting like tigers, for they
have been told that the capture OF
Amiens and Ypres and the channel
ports will bring peace-and food. II
lis Germany's final fight for food
That's what the present offensive
means. Yet, even were they to sue
coed in their objective the ultimate sit
uation would not be altered.
NicInriaS without neace victories