The North Otago Times THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. CRISIS IN GERMANY.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13930, 12 July 1917, Page 4

The North Otago Times THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. CRISIS IN GERMANY.

1 Recent cable messageVtcli us'th'at • a grave crisisiiideMloping in Ger- » many.. Jt is seated [hat the crisis is due to, the growing ..military strength of fhir Allies, the vigour of the Russian'offensive, the partial failure, of-the Gcrmair harvest, f and the..intervention of America, There is the greatest excitement in the lobbies of 'the Reichstag, ami one of'the prominent party leaders lias declared that Germany's campaign of unrestricted submarining has failed and the resignations are demanded of Admiral von Capelle, (Commander-in : Chief of the German High Sea Fleet) and He'rr Zimmerman (German Foreign Minister). If Germany's submarine campaign, lias failed, the,. Jiaval and military plans of Germany will 'erasli' to the ground like a pack of cards,' for :Germany has staked everything upon this, her last desperate throw. In the light of subsequent developments, it is interesting to recall the famous "victory and peace'' speech delivered by Marshall von Hindenburg at the time' of the launching of. the .new submarine campaign. "In deciding upon unrestricted U-boat warfare; notwithstanding the possibility of America coming to the assistance | of the Entente Powers ".the Marshal declared, '"we deemed such assistance as of no weight. I certainly admit, that the financial assistance of. the. United States should be booked as an additional asset for our enemies, but in this war, contrary to what has been the ease in other wars, money ha;; proved not to be the most important matter for the conduct of military operations. The Amerihan supply/of war material to the Entente has already Cached such a' magnitude tliat any further increase appears to be hardly possible. And now it is proposed loraise an army of from half a million .-tj) two, nii.lliojis of- ( ,inen. To equip 'such ail army and at the same time to supply the Entente on the same scale appears to be impossible. Tbe.material assistance "given to the Entente cannot... be very great within any measurable '. time, and it is the task of our Üboats Continually to diminish it," •Now Ave are told that the crisis which is developing in Germany irpartially clue to American -iiiterventioiK .'Perhaps-the German lJigli,.Go!)nnaiMl. .has, beard of..the vigorous efforts of the American .Navy, the lavish outpouring of gold; the' fact- that America will soonoiitstrip the munition production of the whole of the. European belligerents, and the/presence of a large force of American troops on the Western Front, The, full force of the energy and capacity of the United States has enabled liei" to surprise the world by the wlerity. and .magnitude of her Undertakings now that she' is fighting. If the brutal Marshal' 1

'scorncs the assistance America cai give the Allies, 1 lie German pcoph hiive\iio Mich easy feelings. Bii the iMiii'hluil proceeded: "l[ tin British Fleet, with the-help of tin French, Italian, Russian, and Jap anese navies, has hitherto been un able to overcome the U-boat dan ger, tlie American.Fleet will hoi succeed either. The Entente hai •no weapon against the U-boats The sea harrier continues witl growing effectiveness. The mon ships there are on the. ocean tin greater will be the U-boats' boot.v Even with.the most intense worl and with the greatest suppor from the Entente countries in tin sending to America of officers ■ ti give instruction, etc., no America] expeditionary corps of any con aider able ■ strength can be expecte< to be ready for despatch to Europ for at least a year. On the othe. hand, this year, according to Entente leaders, is to bring the final decision. Moreover we too have taken our measures. Our Eastern Front has been so consolidated and is now, garrisoned by such a mass

of men that General Brasiloff, even with the. most ruthless sacrifice oi men, can achieve no success, Even the crasspst, optimist in. the Entente camp cannot to-day deny that recent events in Russia would promote our plans, Last year we required our strategical Army reserve to repulse Brusiloff's irruption, and the Western Front was thrown upon its own limited" resources. Nevertheless, the AngloFrench attack was, repulsed." De-

spite the loud boastings of the German Marshal, we have the state incut of one of the party leaders of the Reichstag that the submarine campaign has failed, and the German people are fearful oi the future; Away back in March, Marshal von Hindcnburg said: "The Western Front has become so strong that we can withstand every attack with absolute security, On all our fronts we have to-day at our free disposal an army reserve of a strength and preparedness whieli have not been equalled at any other time (lining the war, ready for defence or attack at any 'point .wo may choose. Nothing which happens on any front, in the sea, or in the air should be regarded as an isolated phenomen; everything is part of one great plan. In this sense our Army and

Navy have become one. To-day, after only two months of U-boat warfare, I can already tell you that our calculation was correct, The course which we adopted, with full appreciation of all the dangers which it entailed, is leading us to .the goal. We have considered all the possibilities, and, acting on the best human knowledge and conscience, we have chosen those which will lead us to 1 victory and pence." There is nc doubt that the course which the German Jligh Command adopted, with full appreciation of all the danger which it entailed is certainly leading Germany to her goal The only goal which will, ensure | the safety.of the world—Defeat. I Once again the German High Com-

• ninnd-hs miscalculated the forces arrayed against the Central Powers, (iml lias misinterpreted the I sign l ; of the times, The crisis in | Germany is due to the very fac- | tors which were discounted by | Marshal von Hindenburg and today the people of Germany have every reason to fear the worst,