Evening star., 1919-09-29

BILE attack in March. 1918. Even on
this occasion he showed no evidence
OF strain; as usual, his animated
spirits held the upper hand; he was
incessantly. but he never
even mentioned the subject that was
absorbing the thoughts Of the rest
Of the world at that moment; in
stead, he ratified along, touching
upon the Irish question, discussing
the impression which Irish con-
scription would make in America, and
now and then pausing to pass some
This was the way that 1 always saw
the head of the British government;
never did I meet him when he was
tagged or discouraged. or when he
saw anything but a favorable end
to the war.
Never Lost His Faith.
On several occasions I attempted to
impress Lloyd George with the gravity
of the situation; he always refused
to see it that way.
"Oh. yes, things are bad" he would
say with a smile and a sweep of his
hand. But we shall get the best Of
the submarineS-never fear"
But the cheerfulness of the prime
minister was exceptional; all his as
sociates hardly concealed their ap-
prehension. On the other hand, a
wave of enthusiasm was sweeping
over Germany. Americans still have
an idea that the German government
adopted the submarine campaign as
the last despairing gamblers chance,
only half believeing in it's success
themselves. There is an impression
here that the Germans never would
have staked their empire on this des-
perate final throw had they foreseen
N
mobiliZed all it's men and resources
against them. -
This conviction is entirely wrong.
The Germans did not think that they
were taking any chances at all; the
ultimate result seemed to them GER
shipping Of the allies and the neu-
trail nations; they knew just how
much their submarines could sink
each month, and from these statistics
they mathematically deduced the
time when the war would end. They
to their enemies, but this was be-
cause they were thinking of scondi-
tions after the war; for they would
have liked to have had American
friendship in the period of readjust-
ment. But they did not fear that we
course of the war itself. This again
was not because they really despised
our fighting power; they knew that
we would prove a formidable enemy
on the battleefi1d: but the obvious
fact, to their eyes, was that our ar
mics could never get to the front in
time. The submarine campaign, they
said. would finish the thing in three
our four months; certainly in that
period the unprepared United States
could never summon any military
power that could affect the result.
Thus from purely military stand
point the, entrance of 100000, 900
much as would declaration of war
from the planet Mars.
U-Boat Commanders Confident.
We confirmed this point of view
from the commanders of the occa-
sionally captured submarines. These
men would be brought to London
and questioned: they showed the ut
most confidence In the result.
saw Sus youha What xHa ndo Does eSa
make? There are plenty more sub
marines coming out. You will get a
few, but we can build dozen for
every one that you can capture or
sink. Anyway the war will all be
over in two or three months and We
shall be sent back home"
All these captives laughed at the
suggestion of German defeat: their
attitude was not that Of prisoners,
but Of conquerers. They also re-
garded themselves as heroes and
eloried in the achievements of their
submarine service. For the most
and placed the end of the war at
about the 1st Of July or August. The
Berlin government similarly exag-
gerated the extent of their success.
This was not surprising, for one
popularity of the submarine Is that
only the commander. stationed at the
neriscope. knows what is going on.
If he reports sinking 5.000-ton snip
no one can contradict his state
ment. for the crew and other Of
ficers do not see the surface OF the
water. Not unnaturally. the COM
mander does not depreciate his own
Of sunken tonnage reported in Berlin
considerably exceeded the actual
The speeches of German dignitaries
resounded with the same confidence
Kaiser's Faith in U-Boats.
.In the impending decisive battle"
said the kaiser, 'the task falls upon
my navy Of turning the English war
method of starvation, with which our
most hated and most obstinate en-
envy intends to overthrow the Ger
man people, against him and his al
lies by combating their sea traffic
with all the means in our power. In
this work the submarine will stand
in the first rank. I expect that this
weapon, technically developed with
wise forethought at our admirable
yards, in cooperation with all our
other naval fighting weapons and
supported by the spirit which, dur
ing the whole course Of the war. has
enabled us to perform brilliant deeds.
will break our enemy's war Will.
"In this life-and-death struggle by
hunger" said DR.. Helfferich, England
believed herself to be far beyond the
reach Of any anxiety about food. A
year ago it was supposed that Eng
land would be able to use the acres
Of the whole world, bidding with
them against the German acres. To-
day England sees herself in situa-
ton unparalleled in her history. Her
acres across sea disappear as re-
suit of the blockade which our SUBJ
marines are daily making more ef.
fective around England. We have
we have dared. Certain
Of the result, we shall not allow it
to be taken from US by anybody or
ancient history; yet they were made
In February, 1917. At the time Amer
leans and Englishmen read them
with a smile: they seemed to be the
kind Of German rodomontade with
which the war had made US 30 ia