The Nenana daily news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1918-1921, 1918-04-01

tured, permanently crippled or is
dead from natural causes, with the |
result that, on the Western front,
the numerical superiority has passed !
from Germany to the Allies, who |
can oppose over 100000 men to
a maximum of 4,5OO,000 German
troops. In the matter of artillery |
there is an equal preponderance on
the Allied side. Last, and by no !
means least important, is the fact !
that what is left of the German
army contains a far larger proper
ton than the Allied armies of men,
who by reason of age and immature
youth, are i'll suited to stand the
terrific strain of modern warfare.
Nor should we in this comparison
forget that while in the German army
there has been a noticeable decline
in morale, due to the pinch of want
and the sickness of heart which
comes from endless promises that
are unfulfilled, the morale of the
Allied armies, who are well fed,
steadily increasing in strength, and
cheered by some eighteen months
of all but unbroken victories from
the Swiss border to the North Sea,
is uniformly good.
But if Germany despairs of a
great military decisions in the field,
why does she continue to fight?
She must be we'll aware that the
prolongation of the brutal war which
she is waging deepens the resent
ment against her, and will make
more hard the terms to which she
must subscribe when she is forced
to admit that she has lost the war.
The answer to this question is to
be found in the notable successes
which Germany has won in that
field of conflict back of the front
where she is a far more skilled an
tagonist than she has ever been in
the sphere of military operations.
We refer, of course, to that world
wide war-ceret, subtle, deadly and
enormously effective which she is
ceaselessly waging among the civil
liam population back of the military
fighting lines of the Allies. Here
she has won victories more COM
plete, of greater significance, and
with infinitely more disastrous con-
sequence to her enemies than any
which she has won in the field. Wit
ness the complete collapse of Rus
STA and the partial collapse, in the
fall of last year, of the hitherto
indomitable Italian armies.
Germany's hope of victory lies in
the war behind the front-a war
which in its secrecy and cunning is
as deadly and difficult to deal with
as the sub-sea piracy of the German
U-boats. 1t was after Germany
realized that she could never win
on the sea and in the open, that she
struck below the sea and in the dark.
So, realizing that she can never con-
quer with the sword, she seeks to
win out against the non-combatant's
population by means of the subtle
suggestion of failure, the secret
whisperings of disaffection, the little
spark of rumor which runs through
mems minds like fire through dry
stubble, to say nothing of the de-
liberate lie, craftily conceived, cum
ningly camouflaged, and whispered
by thousand trusted spies into ten
thousand listening ears.
In carrying on this war there is
no weapon, however small, that is
so insignificant as to be overlooked
by the German propaganda; there
is no influence which can have the
slightest effect upon the morale of
the people that is considered too
small for the patient, tireless effort
of these soldiers of secrecy in our
midst, whose efficiency increases in
the ratio of their modesty and ap-
parent insignificance. Many are the
current phrases which have origin
ated in the secret text books of the