Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-26
OFFICIALS HERE /,
CONFIDENT ALLIES |
WILL BREAK DRIVE
Splendid Morale Of Troops
and Civilians Resisting I
Foe Encourages.
COUNTER MOVE AT RIGHT :
MOMENT IS PREDICTED

MOMCNI 10 Tn6OiOlEU
Increasing confidence in the ability Of
the British and French to resist Ger
ma4y's gigantic drive wss expressed in
all quarters Of official Washington today
War Department officials, civilians
and members of the allied embassies
alike viewed the prospective outcome Of
the tremendous Prussian offensive with
growing optimism
Factors in the news which led to this
confidence included the following:
Realization of the enormous losses
sustained by the Germans. admitted in
the Berlin official reports.
Reports of the splendid morale of tbs
British and French troops. as well as
of the civilian population, and the or
derby withdrawal of the points sustain-
ing the full impact Of the German
blows.
Intimation that the British and
French plan a counter move. the nature
of which is not disclosed. but which
possibly might bring into play the all
lied reserve force with telling effect
further withdrawals may be made by
yhe allied forces. with little advantage
TO the enemy and with the assurance
Of even more vigorous resistance when
the rear defenses Of the British and
French are reacAed. 1t
Oficers differ somewhat on the further
plans of the Germans. Some believe
the main force OF the blow has been
dealt; others believe that the Germans
will continue for days. perhaps for
he al Nm
tage they have gained at SUCH an enor-
nous cost of life.
There is no attempt to minfmize the
losses sustained by the allies. nor the
tary machine exemplided in the pres
emit drive as never before.
Time Works With Allies 4
But having sustained the initial inn
pact, it is held. time works with the
allies, assuming they can maintain their
resistance. for. the farther the Germans
Ro the more they expose themselves to
a wider range of attack The German
wedge is narrowing and unless they are
able to widen it they cannot expect to
retain its appex against q three-stded
attack. ->-
Military experts are scanning news
tor indications Of German preparations
ON other parts of the line. for It is OBJ
vious military strategy for the Ger
mans to attempt to drive another
wedge in order to segregate . portion
of fhe allied, front which they might
press upon from both eides- Such .
second vigorous assault Is not TO be
viewed with alarm, they st1fe- II viii
mean second stage OF the GermsA .t-
tack with even more vigorous RESIST
2nce-
An outstanding fact about the Amer
lean interest In the great encouuter n
the stimulating infiuepfe z seems % be
having on W ashingtenf IN increaslng de-
Termination to put fortk every e&ort In
war preparation.-1-l----
, sThe. effecf on the nation b beiiexed
to be the same. Reports here and In
Quiries from various 4ocalittes inoicase
that, isolated villages and towns are
stirred by the menace of the German
offensive against civilization
: The attitude that the war Is to be
won by exerting every ounce OF min.
and Industrial power seems to be
wholly prevalent
Gen. March's Statement.
the War Department sees, no cause
for alarm on the part of the people of
the United States. Sir Douglas Haig
has announced that the British with
drawal was in accordance with a deh-
mite plan. That announcement II to b
accepted"
Similar confidence of the ultimate de-
feat of the German EFFORT was expressed
yesterday by Maj. Gen. Wood before
and Maj. Gen. MacI.achian, British milf
tary attache, today voiced the feeling
of British officers here as to the work
of their comrades in France in . state
a break in the British lines vet has
been achieved by the German rush.
Mention of the allied strategic re-
serves. not as yet engaged, caused
some debate as to the probable develop
ho q q fo2
bring the German drive to a halt with
in a few days. A temporary lufi while
the Germans bring up artillery is to
be expected at any time II the front
of the British proves too firm to Be
broken, however-and oficers here
have no doubt that 1T will-the Ger
mans eventually will reach a point OF
exhaustion both of men and supplies.
which will bring them to . standsttll.
Psychological Moment
That would be the psychological mo-
ment for a counter drive. ana the
strategic reserves of the allies would
D DC deps in Tue order to have them ready
for such a movement.
! Continuation of the bombardment OF
Paris with medium cahber shells
failed to convince ordnance experts
that q gun with a range of seventy-fve
miles or more had been evolved BY the
Germans Those who. would discuss the
reports still did not believe that shells
are being hurled that distance. official
statements from Berlin and Paris not
They pointed out that
the German official statement merely
said that Paris had been bombarded
with g-distance guns. without any
claim that all previous records for gun
range had been exceeded by from zoo
to 800 per cent, and contended that
eventually 1t would be discovered that
the shells dropped into Paris had not
any such distance as seventy
calculations drawn from
ordnance experience in all countries.
however, and not on information from
France.