The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-29


 exasperated the ministers, especially Secretary ot State Solf, who reminds General Ludendorff of his appeals of October l. The reply is:
 Why didn't you send me long ago the endorsements about which you are talking today?"
 And Colonel Heye adds:
 When the great general headquar- ters decided to make an offer of peace it believed that an honorable peace could be concluded. But we must accept the decisive battle if the conditions imposed upon us touch our honor"
 Mr, Solf replies:
 If a refusal breaks off the nego- tiations with Wilson will you take the responsibility?
 Yes" answered the general.
 They separate without coming to a decision and on the 20th Luden- ocrff pushes forward Marshal Hind enburg who writes an embarrassed epistle of which this is the essential phrase:
 If we were beaten, our situation. which is bad. would not be appre- ciably worse than if we now accept tie terms it is sought to impose upon us. We cannot, 1 insist, give
  pensation. It is better to fight to the last man to save our honor.
 These are only words. They arc without effect, for the high com mand has lost its face. It talks; 1t writes; no one believes 1t. Baron Won Lersner, liaison officer at Ger man headquarters, telephones 8 few days afterwards:
 "The great general staff is furious. 
 experience I have of it, I can only place you on your guard in the most pressing manner against the possi- bility of having faith in it's prom ises, and I recommend that you do. not allow yourself to be turned away from tho policy of peace which We lave adopted. The military situation Is today every bit as desperate as it was three weeks ago. No inn proyement is to be looked for, and the invasion of our territory Is only a question Of weeks or at the very best of a few months"
 The truth is that it is Ludendorff who Is wrong and Lersner who is right. Since September 20 Marshal Foch, who had regained the initiative on July IS. has exploited his sue cess. Three concentric and uninter- rupted attacks on wide front have deeply modified the strategic situa- ton. In the north, from September IS to October IS, the enemy has been driven from the Belgian coast, from the region of Lille. from the basin of Lens and has been forced to es- |. .hish himself behind the Tervueren canal, the Scheldt and the northern canal In the center from September 27 to October 19 the Hindenburg line has everywhere been broken through and the enemy is thrown back be- yond the Sembre canal, the Oise and the Serre. In Champagne and in Ar gonne hard and arduous battle brings us, between September 16 and October 12, up to the Aisne and the Aire On October 20 the German armies from the sea to the Mouse arc everywhere in retreat. In four weeks trey have mad to engage 13s di- visions out of a total of 191. They have only seven fresh divisions in reserve and A are utterly worn out. The average strength of the com panies is only 50 men, although 4o per cent of the battalions have been reduced from four companies to three. Two-thirds of their divisions have been almost constantly in line since September 1. They are short 10000 endorsements every month, although the class of 1920 is already called to the colors.
 War material cannot be renewed. Compared to June there are 25 per cent less machine guns, IT per cent less field pieces, and 26 per cent less heavy artillery. The lateral railways which from one end of the front to the other permit transports of men and material, the voies de rocade, of which the German staff made so fruitful a use during the war, are af tNir T j-y1sS 1-l- ff,.r r,f ' the secondary lines and one principal line are wholly or in part in the hands of the allies. Those which re- main are almost blocked with sup plies and evacuations, so much so that in the three first weeks of October it has only been possible to dis place three divisions laterally. instead of 19 so moved in May. Remember. also, that an enormous amount of war material is scattered all along the front and behind it. To save this. Germany has abandoned the oppor- tunity that a rapid retreat might have afforded. Besides, this retreat is difficult for the forces which are at distance from the German from tier, that is to say, for the group of armies of the German crown prince and of the crown prince of Bavaria. go divisions in all, that have only q zone of 75 kilometers in width through which to withdraw. Finally the morale is low, very low. Hopes had run so high in July The great general staff says it is the fault of the government, which has not the interior well in hand. The govern ment is right in replying that it Is rather the fault of events.
 The generals have demanded the armistice, the ministers take them at their word because they beiiye with von Lersner that "the invasion of German territory Is only a matter of weeks or at most of a few months" Invason: A word that for a hundred years Germany has been wont to apply to its advcr saries. It becomes the obssssion of the gov ernment. Capituiat'on on terms to be fixed by the vi.tors alone in ac- cordance with President Wilson's de- cision. Or invasion with the sole resources of levee en masse pe- euliarly problematical in a country that has already called 14,ooo.o0o men to the colors. But there is no other alternative The ministers make their choice. They will capitu- late.
 After a week of consideration, of hesitation. of exchanges with the great general staff os which they are determined 10 pin tile initial responsibility the ministers are to reply on october 21 to the Amer ican note of the fourteenth This time there can be no playing on words. no talk of negotiation, for it is only a question of submission. Evacuation of occupied territory? The demand is accepted. Armistice {? Germany recognizes that its terms must be left to the appreciation of