EITHER EARLY PEACE

Evening Star, Issue 16675, 6 March 1918, Page 6

EITHER EARLY PEACE

OR TWO YEARS' MORE WAR. [By Aaiinjit Diufte, in the 'New York Tribune.'] Britain is much like the leading shell entering the fourth mile of a gruelling boat race. She is tired, she is anxious, she is even worried, but she is still confident that Bhe will cross the finish in front. The'race has been a surprise to her, and, she has lost a lot of her selfassurance. There is only one danger : that all the oarsmen may not- hold the stroke in the toughest .part of the race. Some of the crew are now wobbling, and the boat no longer rides on an even keel. Nevertheless, it is beina: held in front by the dogged, fierce determination of the strong-hearted members, and though the stroke may lack polish it contains a world of driving power. When the race will end no one knows—not- Lloyd George, nor Clemenceau, nor Orlando," Hertling, nor Czernin, Haig, Petain. nor Pershing"' Hindenburg, nor Ludendorff. Thev have their opinions—so has every European—but, like a statistician with" a pile of figures in front of him, the more they study it the more uncertain they become. DIPLOMATISTS TO* WORK HARD. Between now and the coming of spring the diplomatists will work desperately to do what the militarists have failed to accomplish, and perhaps they have one chance in ten of reaching a settlement by mid-April. But, generally, big thing's come through by hard work and superiority tn numbers and materials. If the diplomatists fail, if the moderates do not quicken their pace, if the growing band of Labor Socialists is held in check the war will be renewed, in all its fury in spring and will burn right through to next fall. Either Europe will make peace within the next four months or the war will last another year at least. Some say that America has prolonged the war"some that she has shortened it. If nca were, eliminated from allied and enemy calculations to-day, peace undoubtedly would come by spring' The war would end in a stalemate, because neither side would be. strong enough to fbdit to a decision— and by a decision is meant the physical occupation of one set of countries by the other set. with peace dictated by the victor. ALLIES' FAITH TN AMERICA STRONG. Within the last three months, especially since the Italian disaster, tha whole tenor of utterances of allied statesmen has been that America would furnish the straw to break the enemy's back. There have been many variations of this theme, but fundamentally they are the same. If the allied statesmen are honest in their declaration to their peoples, they considei America able physically, economically, and financially to beat the enemy, There i< no reason to doubt them, "because few statesmen in any country would dare to gamble heavily or promise much at this stage of the war. Their power and position at present are as unstable a* a *eat on a picket fence. The same facte.' or at least the essential ones upon which allied statesmen base their declarations regarding America, are in the hands of the enemy leaders. Whatever is said abou the German, he is a mighty cZI cold-blooded calculator, who doel not ju-Klew-ith facts merely to suit- his wishes, this is the reasoning of those who expect fCfe bo^ l 1 s,d ™ are n <™' guided more bv tacts and less by sentiment, that the leadtrL,£% tUrm i S n toWard compromise thiough fear and the ware of dissatisfaction that is sweeping over every country. Unquestionably Russia to date }ias 'influenced the course of the war to an immeasurably greater degree than has Amelia,' 'ThTIn P °T Bt | l ' 'Potential. The loss to the Allies of Russian military power, great a, it was, *£S small as compared with the political effect tht B" ffll '™, devel °P ments have had on the rest of Europe. The Russian revolu tion marked the real birth of th» nre*e"*ar*dT,c*l movement, and it i« hJlnc a influence on the German inter al Situation. Discounting that part of tie present Pan-German potest intended as camouflage there still'remains enough o show that the Junkers do not like the -ussian developments, and that thev fear tie movement toward radicalism mo-e than thev do military threats The French firmly believe' thev will recen-e the first blow, and, needless'to say, they are ready for it.