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Show The Troubled Situation Tl II ANY people are trying to estimate when the " great war will close. It is vain speculation beyond the one fact that it cannot much longer hold its present pace. There is a limit to human endurance, there ; are limitations upon human power to provide , the material to feed armies and supply them with war material. While the armies are held up to the firing line by their excitement and military pride and discipline, the indescribable sorrows of the people are fast nearing the point when either there must be a surcease or anarchy will come. So far Germany has prevented any material encroachment on her soil, but on the "other hand, f4all her original plans of conquest have so far failed and she is fighting a defensive battle on every side except on the eastern and northeastern front and success there can avail her little, for a hundred years ago Napoleon learned the fact I that even to penetrate Russia and capture her I capitol, instead of being a victory was in truth a I defeat. All Germany can hope for in that direc- tlon is a temporary knockout of Russia, while she K engages other foes. "9 To the untrained eye it looks as though Ger- k many must break through the western and north- I western armies the British and the French B front in the immediate future, or be willing to B agree upon terms of peace, for her people at B heme cannot bear the strain of another winter SB like last winter. B This leads to another thought which is that B the British and French commanders must see B that they will need all the forces they can get B into line to meet the shock of the armies that B will be hurled upon them within the next thirty ffi days. B The drive to the northeast we look upon as B a diversion merely, an attempt to attract atten- Bl tion away from the real point and perhaps to en- fij able the withdrawal of half a million men needed H when the great northwestern drive shall be un- H dertaken. H Doubtless all the commanders are working Bj with 'the thought that something definite must B be accomplished before another winter closes w down. Wn In the meantime we hope our government is H watching for another opportunity to tender its H good officers to help bring about peace. We H should be glad if the president would call to H Washington two or three dozen senators and rep- H resentatlves of both parties those whom he rejes upon for advice when congress is in ses- H sion, to counsel with him now, for as the war JB grows worse neither of the belligerents would hesitate to involve our country in trouble if they could see any advantage in doing so. That note from Austria the other day was a sample. What she demanded was, in truth, for the United States to take her opinion of the right though what she objected to was really what she and the other nations had caused to be written into the Hague international statutes. In the same way Great Britain cannot give up her old habit of trying to bully the world on the sea. Let us hope that this very dark hour immediately immedi-ately preceds a real dawn. |