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Show THF (.RK. T WAR. Estimates of the German losses during the present offensive vary all the way from 4"0.0in to nearly a million. The German authorities have nothing to say on the suhjecT (hat is worth saying. Their bulletins bulle-tins have become mere hysterica! falsehoods, after the style of their denial that any damage was. done at ZeebrufTce by the recent raid. But we have a semi-authoritative statement that the British losses during the offensive have been $250.-, 000. It Is a terrible total, but it points unmistakably to a German loss very much greater. The Ger- ! mans were assailing fortifications during the greater part of the fighting, fight-ing, and the British had the ccnpar-atlvely ccnpar-atlvely sheltered task of defending . those fortifications. If we allow a German loss of two to one a modest mod-est estimate we should have a to-tal to-tal German casualty list of half n ( million. The proportion of German losses was probably higher than two to one. If wes estimate the German Ger-man loss at 600.000 we shall probably prob-ably be on the safe side. And Germany Ger-many can not afford to lose so many men. It Is a direct and Irreplaceable Irreplace-able deduction from her fighting strength. She can afford It far less than the allies. She has denuded her Russian armies to the last possible pos-sible point, probably far below the safety point. She has stripped Austria Aus-tria of the German troops that have being doing police duty there. Shis, Sh-is, said to have left the Austrian army to its own devices, and without the German stiffening that has mrp--so much to them in the past. She is now raking Alsace and Lorraine' with a small tooth comb, and this with the double object of obtaining the emits and also of lessening the voting vot-ing strength of the provinces in view of an ultimate plebiscite. It Is hard to believe that Great Britain is seriously ser-iously short of men unless on the supposition that she has contributed contribut-ed very largely to the reserve army that must not be called upon without with-out dire necessity. The allies have the advantage of the defensive, although al-though the defensive has also its disadvantages. American troops are certainly reaching either France or England in impressive 'numbers, and they are probably either being added to the reserve army or they are being placed on garrison duty in England while finishing their training, and so releasing a corresponding corres-ponding number of men already trained. Nor must we forget the Italian . troops, which are usually omltteJ f:om estimates of the allied -forces, bn which have been coming north into France for many months. It Is fairly safe to say that If Germany Ger-many should lose as many men in the no. th to come as In the month tha has passed, she would find her-Belf her-Belf in full view of the end of the road. All estimlates of the allied strength on the actual battlefront are more or less guesswork, since there are so many unascertalnable factors, such as the size of the army In England. But the allies have certainly cer-tainly a preponderance over the Ger mans, and it must be a rapidly Increasing In-creasing one as the transports cross the Atlantic and as the Italians come fro mthe south. It Beems 'evident that Germany has begun her peace offensive and this is an encouraging sign with all her usual energy and also with her usual stupidity. We are even assured that her emissaries have reached Great Britain and that their instructions emanate from Von Lud- enaorn, wno now epitomizes the German government In all Its departments. de-partments. The civil element of control, always nebulous and unreal, has now disappeared from Germany, as it has avowedly disappeared from Austria with the suppression of the Relchsrat. We are told,, moreover, from neutral countries that Von Lud-endorf Lud-endorf Is prepared to make the most comprehensive proposals of course in an unofficial way that will comprise com-prise the evacuation of Belgium and France, with some sort of proffered compromise with regard to Alsace and Lorraine. If such unofficial proposals should seem to fall upon favorable soil they would then be-official. be-official. and In such a way as to challenge chal-lenge a verdict from the democracies democra-cies of the allied countries. I am not among those who look upon every German proposal as a war trap and therefore to be Ignored. Ignor-ed. Germany would not of course, hesitate to commit any treachery, or to snatch any military advantage that might present Itself. That goes without saying. Her morality i precisely that of an ape. and It would be uuicide to suppose her capable or an honest intention or thought. At the same time Germany entered the war with certain definite aims, and although these may have been enlarged en-larged by seeming opportunity she would consider herself fortunate if she could emerge from the struggle with those earlier aims accomplished. accomplish-ed. Just as we may determine the issue of a battle by a consideration of objectives, so we may determine (Continued on page 5) i ( i w.vii. i i ;:i u.mI frm page 2 ) kiv a v;ar in the same way. '' c. r. . .-.! ..!.( win all thai she wi u: ini. tho war to accomplish it r .-i :.::!!! :o suppose t ha t she wt.'..' . i 11 i ii.tr Id slop the war. . -i,.- s1 knows herself to ; : i: ' a i;i;ralo and with all . ii'. i"'1- ;i:-:iinsi her. And the 1 1 :i i i i pi 'i'C I'eiTiian peace offen-i offen-i i '. is i tii re is no general com-iuv'u com-iuv'u ::Uin t. hr i'asic aims, and i ::.:iy pet away with -J;,l.'. v-hi'..' lavishly discard-in;: discard-in;: ;!;- -; i '.n :ous and the accessories. accesso-ries. Ocru'aiiy went to war to secure tho ' c-tui.'l oi Asia Minor, and for noth-ir;r noth-ir;r i-ls E erytliing heyond that whs in'iilriita! or supplementary. I''.,. i ..r.-siim of Asia Minor means '.:r iM.i; sien o'i liulia. and the con-st con-st iiiiiM': enlist -neht .01" some twenty : i'.iiors i :' imlian iightors the fin-c.-i in the world - in her army. The os. -ession' of Asia Minor would give : her ;!- l!i. control of China an ' ', of il'.e rai iTe cons: of Asia, which I she wonl.i uc-eil for her attack upon America. This accounts for tho ; estrSy a nir.-osit ies of the emperor to-war.' to-war.' .' !':in. who might, he expected 'o .iispu!o his road. Egypt and the "uez car.::, would also fall into lie ; hands, as well as tho northern provinces prov-inces of Africa with their Moham-I Moham-I : :.!; n Alitor". T'pon a more mod-esf mod-esf scale this was the aim of Napoleon, Na-poleon, upon whom the emperor has ir.ocl.1'.' i all his military policies. . TVIeH!") has actually nothing to I do with the essentials of the war ":ce)t . rom the fact that Belgium was a sort of garrison on the road to Asia Minor, paradoxical as that may i seen. If lielcium were to he evac-. evac-. uatet! and compensated tomorrow it i would h'ave the war precisely whore ' i was hefore. or it ought to do so. i In the same way it. may he said th-t ! Germany's war against France, lnd. atid Russia was wraged primar- ' ; ily hec:;u:.e dun' too might he counted count-ed upon to hlock the r.oad to A ( Mi tor. Germany hegan the war hy all attack upon Serhia, and always 'for the same reason. Serhia, 1 i l -iielicr.. hot in a more direct way, was a fortress on the way to Asia Minor, geographically speaking, that then existed. If we keep steadily in mind the fact that Germany's war aim. and Iter only war aim, was th ' occupation and possession of Asia Minor we shall then have a yardstick hy which to measure her successes and failures. If she wins her way into A.sia Minor, then she has won the waj'. no miLtter wlxat happens to her elsewhere.. If she is excluded from Asia Minor, then she has lithe li-the war. no matter what happens to nor elsewhere. And by somewhat extending our vision wo may see with equal truth that if Germany wins her way into Asia Minor, then she is in a fair way -to redeem th" pledge that she mr.de at the Vienna congress to extinguish democracy throuirhout tile human race. Now c-'. r'-.;-i was essential to tho scheme at tho heginning of the war, hni siie :s essential no longer. Roti-maiiia Roti-maiiia and Ukraine tako her place, and Germany has treaties with both. Wo may niniost say that they belong to her. Slip can reach Asia Minor through either. If she can persuade, per-suade, the allied democracies to re-I re-I ognize those treaties which allow her a richt-of way eastward, then s';e has won everything for whi-' she wenl to war. ami very much more. she can easily afford to relax hor hold upon I'.elgiuni and Franm-end Franm-end even to renounce her colonies. : because all these will he automatically automat-ically included in the world dominion that will then bo hers after a duo ! season of gestation. Asia Minor unites all the continents of the old World, and dominates them. Asia Minor is a li"!e plot of ground surrounded sur-rounded l:y Uurope. Asia, and Africa, Af-rica, while by it.-, own physical peculiarities pecu-liarities It. is impregnable Asia Minor has been the center of the world's rcUaiorm for a thousand vca rs ( 'brim ia n. Mohan. medan, and Zoroasi rian . ft may easily he the conter of the world's political power, ami it v ,-iii be so if Germany Is allow." al-low." to hold or to threaten it. Talleyrand Tal-leyrand know this well and warned Napoleon to think of nothing else. |