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Show "AMERICA MUST" WIN THECONFLJCT Medill McCormick, Back From the French Trenches, Gives His Impressions. CHICAGO, Nov. 19. Russia's collapse col-lapse and the unreadiness of the United Uni-ted States make hopeless any thoughts of peace before 1919, In the opinion of Medill McCormick, congressman-at-large of Illinois, who has Just returned from a vfsit to most of the Important fronts of tho European battle line. Mr. McCormick said: "The Germans are not winning the war. "Neither are we. "The war today presents a stalemate stale-mate from which we are unable to extricate ex-tricate ourselves, because of the collapse col-lapse of Russia and the unreadiness of the United States. There is practically practical-ly no hope that Russia can be in any sense useful during the year 191S. From the most responsible persons. I heard a disheartening tale of Russian inefficiency, corruption, incendiarism and murder. Russia is so disordered that she cannot make war. Happily in all probability, neither can she make peace. Germany might propose concessions conces-sions and indemnities in tho west and to recoup herself in the east. What would the European democracies do under those circumstances? The principal prin-cipal public men with whom I talked were not all agreed upon the answer to that question. Since the German high command controls all the central powers from tho Bosphoms to the Baltic, Bal-tic, they act with croater nnprm.- nn,-,r i and skill than their enemies. ' Thus they made a seemingly successful drive into Italy. The real object of their political foray into Venetia was partly to make camouflage on a grand scale to conceal their steadv losses from Verdun to Passchendaele and partly to provoke revolution in Italy. "While I was in the now-conquered Ita Ian territory a little while ago. the Italian command expected an attack in the neighborhood of Asiago. The Ians wero under-gunned, neither had they enough ammunition. The margin of subsistence in the country Is so narrow that it must affect the morale of the population. But even so the Italians would not have been driven driv-en back so far as they were If two or three divisions, holding an almost Impregnable point, debauched bv tho excellent spy system of Germany, had not thrown down their arms. The Italians had defeated the Austrians It was German divisions with artillery from the eastern and western fronts which restored the morale of the Aus-tro-Hungarian troops and themselves led the successful thrusL "The French and British have a moderate mod-erate preponderance in guns, and man for man they outfight the Germans. All of the German class of next year's boys of sevonteen are in the army and many of sixteen, whose tear-stained tear-stained faces among the prisoners wrench the hearts of the Tommies and the Poilus, who show them a shy, tender ten-der and clumsy kindness.. Plainly the resources In men and material are running run-ning low. While there are still excellent ex-cellent German divisions in Flanders chore was an appreciable diminution in the morale and the phvsical quality on iUl w-rin,n troops on thQ French uurjng mo ten weeks In which I was in Europe. Ger- , many everywhere had lost the ofTen- J "The issue of the war will he de- i elded not on tho Isonzo or the Plave ' not on the Mouse or the Rhine, but in ' : Wash ngton and by the furnaces of j America. This war must be won if we are to win it, by the manufacture in America of thousands or engines of war. Men cannot win tho war. The splendid little American army which already has crossed the seas rendered a great service when tho echo of tho first American feet upon the soil of i-ranco carried to every homo which ' has sacrificed (and almost all French ; homes havo sacrificed) the promise S that strength and still more the Indus- E trial genius of America would bring j succor to France. i Send Cannon to France. - "One of the greatest of French gen- erals, perhaps the geratest, with the burden of the long front upon his I shoulders, said to me: ' 'Thank God, k for your little army. It buoyed our falling hopes but its present growth P costs us material. Send us cannon I and ammunition now, and more of them, lest there be none of us left I when you really get here.' I "We cannot hope to have a vast 9 army In France next year. But Amer- I lea, whose furnaces can forgo as much t steel as the furnaces of all Europe, I can produce tho cannon 135,000 can- non. E "We must have greater co-ordination of effort than we have now. We must I have more powerful direction, greater 1 unity of effort, a true war council suet; I as does not exist In Washington a I council of men, who, Irrespective of it faction and party, represent in tho I greatest degree tho energy and tho 1 genius of America. We must bend all i our energies to make the great Indus- r trial effort ln time. It will be fruitless If wo are ready late." |