Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 42, Number 77, 10 February 1917 — Page 10

PAGE TWELVE

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM, SATURDAY, FEB. 10, 1917

Let Us Look Gold Facts in the Face,

Care, and Prepare for Grave Perils

We:

That

igh Probabilities with

Are Bbund to Gome

Editor's Note The following editorial is from the New York American, an independent newspaper published in the hot bed of American Jingoism. It Is probably from the pen of one of America's greatest editors, Arthur Brisbane. The reasoning in this editorial is so clear and strong, its appeal to the common sense is so great, the truths it contains are so apparent and its sober patriotism, contrasted to the hysterical and very prevalent hang-out-the-flag-we-can -lick -the -world sham patriotism, is so steadying and strong that we reprint it in its entirety and commend it to the sober judgment of our subscribers. The Editor.

At the beginning of this war, the English wholly underestimated Germany's' strength and endurance and resources. They also overrated their own capacity. "The Big Spring drive will end It," they said In the Fall of 1915. "We will muddle through till Kitchener's new army is ready. Then it will soon be over." Yon know what happened. And- all the world knows that if France had not sacrificed herself so magnificently and Russia had not squandered millions of lives, England would have "been whipped to a finish by Germany before the war was six months old. Two Errors of England. Now, we ought, above all things, to avoid these two errors that England made. We must not overrate our capacity and we must not, underrate the German war machine. The sensible, patriotic thing to do Is to look at facts as they are, to weigh all the probabilities and to prepare for the future situation as it may be and not as we think it ought to be. The man who goes about boasting that we can whip the universe offhand and crying that Germany is exhausted and ready to fall on her knees la not only a fool, but he is a nuisance and a menace to his own country's interests. Play Into German's Hand. It ought to be thoroughly understood at once that if we go to war with Germany we play right into the hands of the German military caste nml make the allies' defeat as nearly certain as anything can be that is jet in the future. Mark you. we do not say our defeat, but the allies' defeat. Tet us look at this matter sensibly and dispassionately, for it is a matter of vital importance to us to thoroughly understand what problems war has In store for us if we go to war. Can We Do It. In the first place, Germany will either whip the allies this year or not at alL If she is strong enough to whip the allies, the only way we could

save them would be to bring an over

balancing financial, military and moral pressure to .bear on Germany within the next eight months. Can we do that?

Undoubtedly we can finance the

allies with billions, if we are fools enough to waste our wealth on those bankrupts. But the time has gone when finances would have any decisive weight in this conflict, but the finances HAVE ALREADY been found and used in the preparation of all the means that will be used in this final decisive campaign. if we gave our whole accumulation of cash to England and France and Russia tomorrow, that gigantic wealth would not alter the naval and military preparation of the combatants for the coming struggle by so much as a gun battery. Continue Preparation. For the whole available man power and factory power of all these nations has been and now Is' engaged in the work of preparation; and money, whose power is to outsay an adversary In long warfare, is no longer a factor that can alter the result of the frightlul strinrele that is approaching. Mr. Gporge's assertion that the last f SOO.onn wo would win the war had truth in it two years ago. Now it is a mere cntch phrase. Remembpr that we are speaking Bolcly of the Kurooean situation, because, so far as WE are concerned, if tve are unfortunate enough to got entangled in this war, our sole and our sfrone hnpo ia indeed in our vast wealth, by which we can outlast nations a1raflv greatly exhausted and financially bankrupt. The Dream of a Fool. But that we can at this time affect Ormany's powerfully prepared onslaught on the allies on land and on spa bv bolstering up England's treasury w1h our cash is a fool's dream. There remains to be considered, then, what military and naval assistance we can give the allies during the next elpht months. Five words will nnowfr that niestton: WE CAN ,IVE THEM N'ONE. We ought aever. undei my circumtances, ser a single American soli, er to be slaughtered in Europe. But e-ion if fcn fNy should be decided , we CANVsOT POSSIBLY send an American army anywhere this year. Because It is going to take all this year and another year besides to recruit and to equip the very smallest armv tbnt Is nnpded.FOR OUR OWN DEFENSE against probable attack. So far as our navy is concerned, it Is now a highly efficient weapon of defense, but it is not equipped for offensive action at a distance Xrom home. Its strength consists almost wholly in dreadnaughts. German Fleet Safe. But the British and French navies ruw outnumber the German navy three to one In battleship and battle

f j t-r strength and yet can do noth-i Ing to destroy the German high seas fleet, safe behind the defenses of Heligoland. And If we were willing to leave our own coasts undefended, which the nation would not endure, and to send all our battleships and cruisers to European waters, the German fleet would still be as safe as it is today behind those Impregnable defenses. We have no fast scout cruisers, no submarines that can go to sea, no aircraft, no anything to add to the offensive strength of the British and French fleets. Weakness of Our Navy. As a means of defense of our own coasts our navy is admirable. As an offensive weapon against a 6afely hidden high-seas fleet in German waters it is of about as much practical value as a popgun. And every officer of our splendid ships knows this. The German nation has no merchant marine afloat, so that the full damage we could do in that line is to seize the Interned ships a loss which would not have the slightest military or economic effect upon Germany while the war lasts, as these ships have been lost to her anyway, so far as any use is concerned. No Military Aid Possible. It is very clear that we can give the allies no naval or military aid that will have any decisive affect upon the war this year or next year. In the meantime, if we are in a state of war, we shall certainly require and demand the full output of our munitions factories, our aeroplane factories, our submarine factories, our uniform and harness factories, our meat and provision packing plants, our steel works and the rest of the industries that have kept the allies going and made It possible for them to prolong the war. Europe Is Cut Off. England, France and Italy would be as effectually cut of from American sources of supply by the pressing needs of American preparation as by the submarine warfare of Germany.' In the meantime, the submarine warfare of Germany will almost certainly deprive England of sufficient food and France and Italy of the coal without which their war factories and their all-important railroads cannot be operated. For the moment the German submarine commanders are released from all fear of sinking ships at sight, on account of danger to Americans, that moment no part of the high seas will be safe for any merchant ship, and the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas will be vast death traps, over which it will be impossible to induce sailors to voyage. Hampered by American restrictions, the German submarines have nevertheless succeeded in destroying an average of 20 000 tonnage per day for many weeks past. German Staff's Esirrae. The German naval staff i"si"tj thaiit can sink l.oon.non tons of Rhirmi-fr a month WITHIN THE m.OCXAW LINES, if the submarine tornado without warning. And if thev calculate eonfidentlv upon th"t bae wi'hin the blockade lines, what will they do when all repard for neutral safety is destroyed by American's participation In the war, and the submarines are at liberty to prowl the seas and torpedo anything afloat anywhere in the ocean ? The resonable supposition is that they can and would sweep the seas of commerce, partly by destroying it and partly by frightening neutral shipowners into declining the risks of voyaging. The figures that are commonly used to show the available seagoing tonnage that would have to be destroyed to affect England's supplies of necessities are gross exaggerations. Available Tonnage. So far from having 50.000.000, 30,000,000. or even 20,000,000 gross tonnage of seagoing ships available, the total quantity of British, French, Italian and neutral seagoing tonnage possibly available for carrying supplies to England. France and Jtaly is not above 10,000,000. The amount of tonnage entering British ' ports during 1916 was something in excess of 11,000.000, and. of course, much of this was a repetition of the actual tonnage, as the same ships registered time after time. In normal years. Great Britain imports about 12,000.000 tons of food supplies. At that there is never as much as six weeks' supplies on hand. The food supply of London is exhausted every four days. Armies Require Food. In addition to the importation of food from abroad, Britain must ship food for her huge armies in France, for her armies in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in Greece, and for her navy; and she must find ships for the far greater task of keeping her navy and her armies supplied with recruits, with weapons, .with ammunition, with all the bulky supplies of the camp and field; and she imperatively must keep France supplied with coal, since the French coal mines are In German hands. . Now, figures are very apt to err unless one allows wide margins. There lies before us on the table at this moment the World Almanac for 19151916, containing a "History of the War," in which the learned writer proves by the most painstaking calculations of man power that the Central Empires would collapse from exhaustion of reserves by May 1, 1916. The rather ridiclous aspect this mathematical prvphecy wears in February. 1917, ir a warning not to trust figures too far. Starvation Threatens. But if we assume that the German submarine fleet can destroy no more shipping bound to England than it has been destroying for some weeks, under hampering conditions laid down by us, then in ten months the shipping

j available for carrying supplies to

England cannot possibly coal France, supply England's overseas armies and

j feed England. It is impossible that the

destruction of ,5,000,000 tons of shipping can have any other result than to put England under the stress of starvation. And if the German submarines can destroy shipping at that rate, while operating under restrictions demanded by us, it is very reasonable to suppose.

that they will take a much higher toll when they no longer care whether or not they sink ships carrying Americans or flying the American flag. -v Another Handicap. , If they can double their present daily bag. they will reduce England to starvation before we can fire a shot in effective warfare and before the Summer offensives on the Somme and other points can even become threatening to Germany's defense. Purely from a military standpoint, our participation in the war will prove a far greater help, for many months, to Germany than to the allies. It will be another case of Roumania's supposed aid on a far greater scale. And we believe that it will prove fatal to the allies if Germany is any way near as well equipped to deal destruction at sea as she is thought to be. . The argument that England and France can build merchant ships as fast as they are destroyed will have no weight with well-informed men. Under the stress of great need, the British yards turned out less than 600,000 tons of shipping last year. And the reason is that neither the yards nor the labor can be spared from the far more urgent need of turning out war material. Germans Have Foresight No thinking person disputes the ability and foresight of the German military and naval staffs. No thinking person believes that the German government, after yielding so long to American demands, would deliberately throw away American friendship and risk war with America unless they had weighed all the results and had the reasonable prospect of crushing their ' adversaries before our assistance could become powerful enough to save Germany's enemies. The German calculation is to bring down England by a deadlier blockade and a far more crushing starvation than England has been able to exert upon Germany, BEFORE the United States can possibly rescue England. After that, Germany probably calculates that she can make peace with us when the cause of war between her and us, if we do make war, is automatically removed bv European peace. Menace Exists These calculations may fail. But it is foolish to underrate their menace or to believe that they cannot possibly succeed. The Germans are past masters of the art of war and when they risk their all on the success of a cam-

! paign for which they have prepared I for two years, no man of sense will j weigh lightly the power and menace j of such a campaign or say foolishly that it cannot win victory As for ourselves, if we do determine to go to war over Germany's submarine blockade of England, we should : begin r.ml ceaselessly carry on the tremrndous preparation necessary to defend GT7r;c!ves in case Germany wins ictory over the allies with that very blockade, j Gorrrany May Attack Us For if Germany emerges from the mighty battles that are about to open , on land and on sea a victor, we must, : if we are wise and prudent, expect i that she will not hesitate to turn her ! mighty armaments against us, if we I have made war upon her. ! The Germans will argue that we j waited to attack them until the wold had been led to believe falsely that . they were almost overpowered by. the ' great odds they have fought against

for over two years and there will be bitterness In their hearts. There will be, too, another Incentive. We 6hall be the only nation on earth still possessing vast wealth, and from whom an Europeon combination might hope to extort the cost of its own huge warfare, If it could beat us In war. New York alone could be put to a ransom great enough to put the Inances of the Central Empires in shape again if the Central Empires could beat our fleets and force a landing of their vast and victorious veteran armies on our soil. True Patriotism Now, believe us, there is a great deal more true patriotism in putting these facts" and these possibilities rlainly before you than there is in bragging, ranting, reviling end making an ass of one's self in the holy and beautiful name of patriotism. War is. a business proposition, citizens, in these days. It is a question of efficiency just exactly as factory or store competition is. We will win or lose any war upon which we venture precisely as we leave rant and tirades to cheap notoriety hunters and broken-down political fakers and get down to brass tacks and common sense, business-like preparation. What Wins Wars Cannon and rifles and bayonets and ships and aircraft and submarines and equipment and drilled officers and men win wars not loud mouths. If we are going to fight a first-class Power, we ought to drop every other national industry and consideration and turn the whole country into a war factory. Otherwise we will be beaten and ruined, just as some of these cocksure end bull-headed European combatants are going to be beaten and ruined, because their rulers and their press have lied to them, bragged to them, belittled their enemies to them and led them straight to the abyss of defeat with their eyes shut. Let Us Avoid Folly Countrymen, let us not imitate this monstrous folly. The instant war begins, if we do gto war, a period of hysteria will begin and for a time the loudest braggart and the most impudent dunce will be popular heroes. But let us who deeply and sincerely love our most dear country, and who are neither braggarts nor dunces, but intelligent and sensible men and women let us keep our ears open to reasonable discussion and to the truth at r.ll times. Let us face situations as they are. Let us insist upon knowing the fncts. There must be censorship of military and naval movements, of course. Avoid False Censorship But we ought not to permit any such censorship as that which has constantly deceived the peoples of Europe, which has left them in ignorance of the sentiments of other countries, which has labored to Inflame hatred and every other ugly passion by monstrous inventions and tales of enemy savagery, lest without that stimulus they might cry for peace with their former neighbors and end the designs of the governing castes. Let us insist that we are not children ito be put in leading strings, nor serfs to submit to the crack of the whip, but brave, upstanding, free and intelligent men and women, who are

not to be cowed by unhappy news of temporary defeat and who have the right to know and are determined to know what i9 being 6aid and done at home and abroad, in our own country and in the enemy country. Let us incist upon free speech and free discussion. We can make war without wearing muzzles. Let us insist that our fleets and our armies be used to fight only for America! Want No Allies We want no allies. We will have use for every American dollar and every American ship and every American soldier in defending America. We have no strength and no wealth to squandor in this European quarrel. Let those who made that insane war fight it out at their own cost and their own peril. And, above every other considera

tion, let us begin now to prepare the means of waging gigantic war in our own defense, whether we actually go to war v now or happily escape that catastrophe at this time. . Aim at United States For war we are sure to have, sooner or later. ' The calculations and agreements and preparations of Russia and of Japan embrace the intimidation or the defeat of the United States as a preliminary to dividing Asia and establishing dominion over the Pacific just

aa sorely as they embrace the spoliation of poor China. We must be ready for ultimate attack la the West -as well as for at-, tack in the East, If we engage in war with Germany, and to be ready to meet that gigantic peril, countrymen, we cannot spend too much of pur wealth or set to work too much of our ckill and labor. Prepare! In that one word Is our whole duty and our or.ly safety.

1

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Phone 2718.

vn f

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PHONE 1335

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PALLADIUM WANT ADS BRING RESULTS TRY THEM

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Tfii Cmf rt :M ' Wa ff Certaisaty -m

fThe word "TROUBLE" is the nightmare of the motorists. JM

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