Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 124, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 June 1917 — BRACE UP. [ARTICLE]

BRACE UP.

iMen who visit Washington these days come back with the most dolorous reports as to war conditions. It is to the credit of the administration that it insists that the people -shall know the woiwt. But it is not to the credit of met when they refuse, or fail, to use their minds in dealing with the facts. No one knows how long Germany can last, but any one who is capable of thought at all must realize that the entente allies have all the best of the present situation. There is not a German statesman or general who would not be glad at the present moment to trade advantages with Great Britain. The trouble with the brotherhood of gloom is that, in its speculation, it entirely overlooks the enemy. It mourns over the troubles of its friends and allies, but it never occurs to it thlat the enemy may be—nay, certainly is—greatly worse off. Hearing such men talk, one would thing that Germany had not lost a man or a dollar in the war. Her man power, so we are solemnly and sapiently assured, is as great as it was at the beginning of the war. While, of course, France is “bled white,” and Great Britain is “at the end of her resources.” One does not need to have any supposedly inside information as to the facts to know that this is the merest poppycock. Great Britain has never in her whole history been at the end of her resources. And today her debt is less per capita than it was at the end of the Napoleonic wars. As for man power, it is said that she has 2,000,000 trained soldiers that have—not yet been used. That she has in France enough men to meet her present needs would seetn to b proved by the mighty drive of a few days ago. Nor is there any such shortage of food in Great Britain and France as there is in the central empires. As to credit, even if our allies were strained, they have this country to draw on—$?,000,000,000 already being available. And there will be more to come. We do not mean to say—or imply—that there is not a great deal of hard fighting yet to be done, or that this country has not undertaken an enormous job. But it does seem as thought we ought to go into our work with our heads up. There is pose we eliminate Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia altogether, 4s-there-a man in the United States who doubts that this country could, unaided, in time beat Germany? The victory might, and probably would be costly. But that it would be won no one who has any of the old American spirit in him can for a moment doubt. So the question is not whether sucecss shall crown our efforts—for success is al readv assured —but when it shall come. It is our duty to put every dollar and every man we can command into the struggle to the end that peace may dawn on the earth. Those of us who know anything of English history know that if France should drop out of the war tomorrow —which she will not do —'England would keep up the fight for years. It might be well for those who are so hopeless as to the resources of the allies to think occasionally of the central powers. The above editorial taken from the Saturday edition of the Indianapolis News will be read bv many of our readers with a great deal of interest, as they have heard these discouraging reports from persons who say that they come direct from Washington. After hearing these mournful tales many of us have felt that we are on the way to our Battle of Waterloo and have no hope of crushing .Prussian autocracy.