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Show AN OPINION ON THE WAR. Frederick Palmer, special correspondent, corre-spondent, who has been in ihe war cone since the beginning of hostilities, hostili-ties, writing to Collter'8 on "ThlflgB Yan DonM Know About the War, presents vlewa which are entitled to careful consideration. He ya; -' there bSVS he. n hut two hip evenls mi the western front, the battle of Soissons, nrHeu ihe Germane gained an advantage, and the fight ai Steinbaeh uhere the French won. between be-tween December 1 and March 1. Hero are paragraphs taken from Palmer - art k le "When I was In Berlin 111 late October, Octo-ber, the German government had emissarie- in Pctrogrsd trying to arrange ar-range a separate treaty of peace with the Russlana and emit, aries In Rome trying to arrange with France There tore, the orders were lor the press to say nice things about the Russians. As for 'he French, the Germans admired ad-mired their bravery and spirit The two peoples had everything In common com-mon How deluded thej were to fight to pull ehestnute out of the fir. rpr the kicked English! What' the Russians Rus-sians were offered I don't know, but 1 do know that the French were offered of-fered Alsace-Lorraine Both the Russians Rus-sians and the French listened, and said "No! ' "Though Germany thouphi she could . rush France. I think I am right in laying that before the war a ma- inHtv' nf thfl members of the German staff, if they could give a frank opln Ion with the certainty it would not be made public, would have said tha it a French army corps and a German army corp6 were set to march one hundred miles to gain a strategic point, the French would arrive flr3t and probably beat the Germans. 'in XugTJRt 1 wrote that if the Germans Ger-mans had not won a decisle victory over the French army by September 1 Germany and Austria had lost. T. have no reason to change my mind And possibly not all Kitchener'! army will go to France It may strike elsewhere. "As early as November 1 Hie Gorman Gor-man volunteer? who got their first training in August were hein Bent ;n while Kitchener's new army ;iar, not at this writing fired a shot When the Germans say that they still have 2,000,000 fresh men to call on, It may be true which T doubt -or it may be a part of the offensive which not only attacks bul tries to keep the other fellow scared "There Is no chance of Hie Germans Ger-mans breaking throuch Can the M-lics" M-lics" Tf o. they cannot attack till the ground is dry and they can move their artillen readily. By June 1 th. French and the British together will have at leas' four million men on this line or nine thousand to a mile." The new things brought out in the foregoing arc First that the Germans did attempt to make separate peace terms with the Russians and then Hie French This had been reported, but denied Second, that the German general staff had any high opinion of the French army before the opening of the war Third that the Germans, as early as last November, were beginning to draw on their last reserves, Third, that the allies will hae Tour million men on their western line by June 1 This estimate might have been arrived at by accepting as cor rcct the reports which have come from London and Fans, hut Mr. Pal mor assumes to have Indisputable etl dence oi the sirencth of the forces to he in the trenches w)tbin the nei two w-eekB. no |