Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-12

Special Cable to Evening Public Ledge,
Copyright 1918. bv Nc,o York Times Co.
Paris, Sept. ~.
From the viewpoint OF a non-Frencr
observer the spiritual and mental physl.
ognomy Of Paris today is remarkable
We are at what is universally admitted
to be a comparative pause in the might.
lest aggressive military effort the world
has ever seen.
After eight weeks of continuous vic.
tories the armies that the Germans be.
liered to be hopelessly weakened and
incapable Of further effort have recov.
cred by sheer hard fighting an enormous
extent Of territory which the German
military machine at the height of its eff.
cheney required more than double tina,
period TO conquer. The Allies now find
themselves faced by still enormously
powerful adversary strongly entrenched
In positions which he believes. or did
until recently. to be impregnable.
The view of Paris today, however, re.
CARDS the future with more serene con.
hdence than at any previous moment
since the war began. Gone is all the
vague unrest that vexed and disturbed
the nation nearly four long years. The
valid rumors that formerly ran through
the city almost hourly are nonexistent
If anything of the kind Is mentioned, II
Is promptly suppressed as the work OF
some enemy agent operating by subtle
and devious ways.
Clemenceau's leadership of the nation
is acclaimed by ALL even by his political
foes. The supreme military skill of Focl
and the inestimable boon which unity OF
command has conferred on the Allies are
realized keenly by the humblest rag
picker In the city. The whole mass OF
the population Is as one as to the entire
justice Of our side in the war and the
certainty of the coming victory.
No Taint Of Bogus PaciAsm
In spite of the fact that humanitarian
ism is one of the most deeply rooted fea.
lures Of French mentality, there Is nc
evidence here of the virus of bogus
pacihsm. The vigorous action of Clemen-
ceau, in the full knowledge that he has
the whole nation behind him since he
took Office. has drained the last taints
of this person from the constitution OF
the nation. Politically and morally to.
day the Paris front is impregnable. And
in this, whatever may be the case under
ether circumstances, Paris stands fol-
the whole Of France.
With a spirit of this kind, the famous
Hindenburg line. which the enemy ad.
mittedly succeeded in elevating to the
rank of a nightmare a year ago. has no
terror for French opinion today. No
illusions are felt as to the formidable
nature of the defensive positions into
which the enemy has been now driven
but in the French mind the whole mean.
ing Of what Is somewhat loosely termed
the Hindepburg line has undergone a
complete change. Today. 1t is regarded
here merely as series Of positions
most of which are undoubtedly strong
but no more to he feared than any one
Of dozens Of strong defensive positions
which have been overcome BY Foch ana
the Allied generals and their troops our
ing the last two months ,&nH .a.
1t is now realized here that the baSit
factor in the great Hlndenburg retFea'
CT last year was not so much the In
herent strength of the positions, OF the
line to which the enemy then retired rs
the fact that he deliberately left oehinc
him and the Allied armies a broad bel,
of devastated country which they woule
require months to organize before they
would be able again to- assume the OF
fensive.
Today this factor is virtually non
existent. The Germans have peer