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Only Cloud on Horizon in Opinion of Optimistic Leaders of Teuton Forces. ALLIES EXPECT TOO MUCH People of England and Prance Think United States Will Perform MU racles in the Very Near Future. By JOHN LLOYD BALDERSTON. (Copyright. 1917. by the McClure Newspa per Syndicate.» London.—Realization of the Impor tance of the coming efforts of a fully aroused America came quickly to both camps of belligerents when It was known last spring, soon after the break with Germany, that American troops would he sent to Europe. But military events of the past few months have im mensely enhanced the importance of the role the United States will be called upon to play. Private advices received here from Germany indicate that the anticipation of American force is the dominating note in the present anxiety of Ger many's rulers to force peace at any cost before the next campaign has been fought out. At tlie beginning of this year's fight ing, both Germany and the allies were optimistic. Germany believed so strongly that the unrestricted subma rine warfare would bring victory in ( a few months that she did not hesl- j tute to drag in a reluctant America against lier. The allies were almost Loquaily confident that the hammer ^ilows on the Somme could lie followed up. this year, by decisive strokes that would send the enemy armies scuttling for the Rhine. Both sides were wrong. Berlin Thinks Situation Good. Aside from the shadow of the Amer ican eagle that has fallen over Ger many, the military situation at present is regarded in the highest Berlin quar ters as good. Information regarding recent speeches at the supposedly se cret sessions of the main committee of the reichstag, as well as accounts of views recently expressed in private by leading men of the empire, indi cate that Germans would be more cock sure than ever that they had won the war, were it not for the treacherous behavior of the never-to-be-sufficiently strafed Herr Wilson. From a competent souree here I have obtained the gist of a communication recently privately made to a group of banking and manufacturing magnates In Germany, us representing the opin ion of the general staff, which means the Hindeuburg-Ludendorff combina tion. A little over a year ago, this German summary remarked, the situation was extremely gloomy. The greut attack on Verdun had failed; after swallow ing up, the summary did not add, the flower of tlie German army. Roumn nia had just entered the war. Tlie French and British were dealing blows on the Somme that caused grave un easiness. Late In the autumn, Rouma ulu had been defeated by kalkenhayn and Mackensen, and the danger in the east removed, but the British attacks towards Bapnume, in September, near ly resulted In a disastrous break through. One Cloud on Horizon. The present position, contrasted with that of last year, is painted in bright colors. Thanks to the bri llant and successful" retreat of Hin denburg in the Somme area as the winter drew towards an end, and to the Invention of new tactics which re moved the possibility of such defeats as were narrowly averted on the Somme, the present year is represented as one of brilliant strategical success. The great allied attacks, east of Arras in April and May, on the Aisne in April, and in Flanders later in the year, are declared to have failed. The only Frunee-British successes admitted are the "purely local setbacks inflict ed on the Germans at Viray, the Mes sines ridge, and Verdun. Russia is proclaimed out of action, and the west ern 'allies incapable of undertaking further offensives on the scale of these which have failed; the only cloud on tlie horizon, the summary concluded, is the army of the United States, whose strength and prowess are written down cautiously as an "unknown quantity. That, in spite of what they believe to be their improved position on the west front, and the collapse of Russian resistance in the east, the Germans should lie more anxious for peace than they were a year ago, is due to the German fear of what they may ha%e to face from across the Atlantic. So much I am informed is freely admitted In the German capital, although the German press has been ordered to sneer nt and belittle in every possible way the new enemy. The process is a familiar one. It is the same as that employed towards England, while the British armies were slowly and pain fully being called out of the ground and fashioned into shape. The sneers stopped when the civilian levies struck on the Somme, one month less thun two years after the war began. Allies Expect Too Much. But the American pressure on Ger many is probably more seriously fear ed because of its financial and block ade aspects than because of IV ashing ton's naval and military preparations. A serious danger exists that the Brit ish and French publics may come to expect altogether tor, much from our new armies. A feeling is growing up here that In some miraculous way America is going to do very startling things in the very near future. That hope is, of course, baseless. Ttie man in the street in London gives vent to most extravagant figures •m tlie subject of the American army. He seems to feel that the hundreds of thousands of recruits he reads about Gaily will fall upon the Germans in a few months. The danger undoubtedly exists that when he finds that ills ex pectations are unfounded, his present mood towards America will undergo a great change. Men here who know tlie facts about what America is doing, and \yhat France and England are do ing and have done, ure alive to the danger that extravagant hopes may lead to reactions that will Imperil the good relations that are so greatly de sired. Secrecy Gives False Perspective. On the other hand, the present sys tem of making everything public in America regarding American war preparations, and continuing to con ceal the facts In France and England, prevents Americans from learning the truth about tlie achievements of their allies, and by the time our troops are fighting in France, may throw the whole war into false perspective. The difficulty is due to the Ameri can habit of trusting tlie people with tin* facts, or with most of them. Amer icans art* told how many men are train ing, and where; how many guns and airplanes are being built; what the na val program consists in; almost every thing about the war excepting the ac tual sailings of troops for the front, and even those apparently become pub lic property very quickly. What Americans know about war prepara tions in the United States quickly cir culates in Europe, in inflated form, be cause itéré the wildest rumors and most optimistic reports are credited. Here, on the contrary, from the tie ginning of the wnr people have been told nothing about their army or lltjet. Tlie man in tlie street lias no idea how many divisions Britain lias in the field; the very names of her twenty newest battleships, even the whereabouts of till' licet, are unknown to him; the whole war is being eondueted in ab solute secrecy. (Deleted by Censor). More Publicity Needed Abroad. That such a distorted view of the war should become current is obvious ly most unfortunate and undesirable. The cure would seem to lie In more publicity in Britain and France, rath er than less in the United States; if it were possible to toll the world what is being done here, in the same graphic way that people are being informed about the preparations in America, the German staffs might get some valu able information, but the German peo ple certainly would be plunged in de spair. If the United States is able to place in the battle line in France, when the campaign gets fairly under way next spring, one—(Deleted by Censor) the number of British and French troops that will be standing in tlie trenches, allied military experts will be delight ed. They do not expect »o much help in so short a time. The only precedent for the efforts of America to play a part in the war in France lies in the transport overseas, in 1915, of Canadian and Australian troops. The Canadians had one regi ment of Boer war veterans, the Prin cess Pat's, in line during the first win ter, but a Canadian division was not able to take over a sector of Its own until April, 1915, eight months after war began. The Australian and New Zealand army corps reached Egypt, on the way to the Dardanelles campaign, about the same time that the first Ca nadians disembarked in France. It is not thought possible here that the United States can greatly better the record of the British Dominions, because the Dominion troops had the advantage of the existing war machin ery In London, and were at first placed under British staffs. The American army is being compelled to improvise its own machinery and its own staff out of a war establishment not more than one-fifth ns big as, and with far less wnr experience than, tlie one exist ing in London In 1914. (Deleted by Censor). Tactic« Changed Since 1916. When, in the distant future, the American armies do charge upon the enemy, the science of war will bear lit tle resemblance to the 1915 and 1916 fighting which the phrase "over tlie top" conjures up to the average read er. A great bombardment, while lines of men wait in trenches with fixed bay onets to charge upon tlie enemy at dawn ; a wild bayonet melee among spluttering machine-gun bullets; then tlie feverish organization of captured trenches against counter-attack—this was war, in the old days of the Somme. Such war is almost obsolete now. By the time Pershing's men "go in," it will be as out of date as the tactics of Shiloh or Gettysburg. When I went over the captured ground on the Vimy ridge and beyond, during the battle of Arras, and again when I saw the Flanders battlefields, my main Interest was in the signs and portends visible of the kind of war the American army will have to wage. To try to predict what war will be like in 1919. or even late next year, would be madness; but it is safe to say that it will be, first and foremost, a war of concrete. And there will be, in the zones of the offensives, no trench sys tems. Trenches cannot exist, they be come mere death traps, under the weight of metal poured out during an up-to-date battle. Pill Boxes Replace Trenches. The first evidences of the concrete war were available last spring. Profit ing by the lessons of the Somme, the Uermuns Installed thousands of mix ing machines behind their lines, and began constructing the little "pill box* es," us the troops call them, or ca mouflaged blockhouses built of blocks of concrete ten and twelve feet thick, big enough to hold garrisons of twenty or thirty men, with narrow slits to per mit machine-gun tire and flame throw ing. These pill boxes are the backbone of the German defensive system today. They are so strong that nothing but a direct hit from the heaviest kind of shell will demolish them. They shed ordinary field gun and howitzer shells like raindrops. Next to the pill box, the ruined house now proves the hard est nut to crack. Steel girders ure placed across the cellar, then upon them are poured many feet of concrete, und below crouches the garrison, safe against bombardment, with machine guns, bombs, and emergency rations in ease they are cut off. Whole days are sometimes required to reduce these re doubts, unless eases of high explosive can be brought up to settle them. Shell holes are also concreted, and con nected by underground passages, invis ible, unlike the trenches, from hostile airplanes. Trench Systems Easily Destroyed. It is by Increasing the depth of the defensive zone that the enemy is able to hold out under the bombardments to which lie is subjected : Trench sys tems of the old kind could he entirely destroyed, the old-style deep dugouts broken in or filled with poison gas, while today it is next to impossible to smash all the hidden blockhouses or discover which among thousands of shellholes, over a devastated area sev eral miles deep, are filled with defen ders. When the Americans attack, they will go forward in small groups, behind an artillery storm of such intensity that in all probability at least one can non will be firing behind every infan tryman who advances. Already, in the last Verdun attacks, more gunners than infantrymen were employed. If tactics develop along the present lines, it will not be more than a year before cannons are more plentiful than sol diers. Poison gas, boiling oil drums, flame throwing machines, are increasing in effectiveness on both sides. The rille bullet, once tiie prime weapon of de struction, gave way at tlie beginning of tills war to the machine-gun stream and the shell. Many soldiers have told me that they think the new weap ons of scientific deviltry will have su perseded tlie machine gun and the bomb before another campaign has ended. American Power Already Felt. If Germany fears American military prowess and wants peace before the American array is in the field, she is taking a long view. But the blockade, and the financial power of the United States, are already making themselves felt. The popular feeling in France and England that our soldiers and ships are going to do great tilings in a few months is too optimistic; but it is probable that Britons and French men do not sufficiently realize what has been done by American bankers, and by the stoppage of supplies to neu trals which during the whole war have filtered into Germany In enormous quantities. "America," said a member of the government recently, "is doing about three times ns much as we thought, last spring, would be possible at this date. If Americans are annoyed that our peo ple expect them to perform impossible miracles, let them remember that such hopes are tlie highest expression of confidences and appreciation that we can give their great country." PARIS NOT ALL OF FRANCE Bordeaux Is Not at All Like the Capi tal City but Has a Quality and Culture of Its Own. "Paris Is France," the American traveler id fond of remarking, but Paris is far from being all of France. There are numerous independent mind ed French cities, which persist in main taining not only a commerce but also a quality and a culture of their own. There Is nothing nt all Parisian about Bordeaux. The southern city is a lit tle world in Itself. The native of Bordeaux does not yield reverently to the judgment of Paris in matters political and artistic, as many of the French provincials do, writes a traveler. lie is rather reti cent for a native of the south of France, but after a time it may dawn on you that he actually considers Bor deaux superior to Paris in most ways. Paris is all right for a vacation, he will say, but not for a place to live. Bordeaux is quietly and solidly self satisfied. prosperous, kindly, conserva tive and mild. It is a rich city, with an immense foreign trade in times of peace. It has one of the greatest harbors of France, where 1,500 ships may lie at anchor. It is a stately city, with great buildings and noble residences; even its poorer houses are built in an individual style differing from that of the rest of France. It has a southern speech that practically gives it a dialect of its own. It is in closer touch with England, with I he United States and with Smith America than any other French city. Its cooking amounts to a native art. It Is the center of one of the most famous wine growing regions in the world. Finally, its climate is a most disagreeable thing to live with. His attlVide toward the climate is the shibboleth by which the native of Bordeaux may be recognized. Strang ers may admire the architecture, tlie boulevards, the wine, the cookery and the harbor. But if a man has a good word for the climate of Bordeax it is a sign he was born and bred there and got to like It before he was old enough to know better. GERMAN CALLS ON HIS COUNTRYMEN TO OUST KAISER Bitter Arraignment of Hohenzol lernism Written to Be Read by Germans. EMPEROR ALONE TO BLAME Senseless and Extravagant Lu6t for War Plunges World Into Ssa of Blood and Tears—Soldiers Urged to Join Entente and Wrest Land From Claws of Destroyer. ti<rb<r<:-CrCrCT<!<rirCrCrCrCrCrCr<!<:<rCi<T-Cr(rtrb This article was written by a g German to be read by Germans. ^ It was circulated in Germany C through the efforts of German q republicans In Switzerland who *> are working for the overthrow ,j, of Hohenzollernlsm and the es- v tablishment of a German re- n ■Ö public. A copy has just been » received in this country and ;> has been translated for the use ^ of the press. i> <* COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC IN- $ £ FORMATION. * £ By SIEGFRIED BALDER. Comrades in wnr! Three years have passed since the German emperor plunged the world and His people into tills most ground less, senseless and impious of all wars. Into a sea of blood and tears. Trained from childhood to be a sol dier, brought up amid tlie perverted views of the junker and officer caste, dreaming of the laurels of tlie con queror as tht* highest ideal, counseled by generals, befriended by war con tractors. and even with a financial in terest in their profiteering, he has since 1905 systematically paved the way for the war. He desired this war, he per mitted the systematic cult of war in Germany by the Pan-Germanists, anil he has encouraged it. lit' supported and fomented the almost daily quar rels of the other powers through the Pan-German press by His inflamma tory speeches. Last of all he affixed his signature to tlie various declarations of war; he is fully and entirely responsi ble for them. For nine years the diplomacy of our neighbors, consistently anxious for peace, succeeded in averting this dis aster from tlie world. This was the policy which was falsely presented to your ignorance ns the "isolation policy," in reality, a peace policy in which Germany was always most heartily invited to participate. Ger many was not isolated, but the German government, and in its wake the Aus trian government, deliberately and ma ______ „ _______ liciously withdrew from the circle of civilized nations, as criminals from hu man social circles. But not only the diplomatic circles of foreign states, but also German inen of insight and lofty Ideals have placed themselves firmly in opposition to the emperor's senseless and extravagant lust for war, in spite of his wrath, und have sacrificed their positions rather than their convictions. This was true in the case of tlie president of the Reichsbank, Doctor Koch, and even of the emperor's brother, I'rlnce Henry of Prussia. On the 31st of July, 1914, he urged the emperor to desist from the war. and when he failed in his attempt he flung at the emperor's feet his com mission as grand admiral and com mander in chief of the German navy. FACTS NOT GiVEN TO GERMAN PEOPLE. Up to the last moment (England even held out until noon of the 4th of August, 1914, when the German army had already swept like a torrent over the boundaries of the neighboring coun tries on every side) the rulers, minis ters and diplomats of England, Russia, France and Serbia did all that lay within human power, even to the ut most self-abnegation, in order to pre serve peace for the world. This fact Is clearly manifest ; the documents con corning it set it forth in black and white to the gaze of the world. They are acknowledged as authentic by the German government, hut they are nat tiruily withheld from the German poo pie. No one wished to attack us, either then or at any later time. All that Aus tria could ask of Serbia with even the slightest semblance of justice was free ly granted. Thus from the very beginning of the war the sympathy of the entire world belonged properly to our neighbors who had been so wantonly attacked. But it did not stop at sympathy; the scoundrels who govern you and control you, by th» colossal atrocity of their methods ol %/nrfare, by such brutality ns In itself to be a menace to the whole neutral world, by disregard of nil es tabiished treaties, managed step by step to enrage all civilized humanity to wnr against us. If a bloodthirsty maninc should be let loose on the streets those whom he attacked would defend themselves. All peace-loving men would hasten to their rescue; only cowards would slink tim idly away. This is today the attitude of the world toward Germany. There will be. no peace, and Justly so, until the murderer is imprisoned and thorn of his power to harm. THIS MURDERER IS GERMAN EMPEROR. Comrades in wnr. this murdeter Is the German emperor and his govern mont; that is to say. the men whom lie himself has chosen for his infamous plan, without consulting the people and without regard for their wishes; and these are accomplices he has se iectcd after men of honor have refused J tHeir services. In the spring of 1914. I by an overwhelming vote of lack of confidence, the reichstag showed its distrust of the only man whose signa ture tilt* emperor needed for mobili zation and declaration of war, Betli man:--Holweg, his imperial chancellor. In no modern civilized state would it be possible for a minister to remain in j office after being openly branded by tlie representatives of the people as un fit. tait in Germany any criminal may become and remain imperial chancellor at the will of fhe emperor nlone. Pun ishment tins already found him out. An other lackey has been promoted to lackey-in-ohlef. without consultation J with the German people and their rep resentatives. This murderer is the German em peror with his accomplices; but not the German people, the poor people defrauded and exploited by their gov ernment; not tiie poor soldiers, who art' driven to slaughter by these knaves under tlie iron shackles of military law. like the miserable galley slaves of old. j Comrades, how long is it your wish to put up with this? When will you rouse yourselves? When will you take arms on the side on which every man of honor must now fight; on the side of humanity and civilization against this gang of slayers? When will you fret* our poor, down-trodden, famished peo ple from Its tyrants, and again estab lish justice, liberty, morality, reason and civilization in Germany? JOIN FIGHT ON SIDE OF JUSTICE. Why nor come over to fight on tlie side of justice, of truth, of freedom, all of y< ii ; the side on which all civilized | the noblest and your own people nations as well at most far-seeing of have taken their stand? I know tlie reasons which hold you ! back : 1. Your ignorance; the false doc trines with which you were inoculated in your school days in all matters of ; history, civil lift' and politics; the pro- j tentions lies of fhe German press, whipped into line by a military dicta- j tor: your implicit confidence In your "<bid-given" leaders. 2. Fear of your masters, especially of the officers. But these hangmen of tlie icaiser are cowardly and hide them selves in time of danger behind cover. Shoot them down like mud dogs if they get in your way. Rather that they die than the hundreds of thousands of honest, industrious fathers of fami lies whom they have already hunted into the jaws of death; a hunt which day by day goes on. 3. Fear of committing an unpardon able crime, and of being unable to re turn home even if you escape punish- 1 lnt'ii t . BUT THE LAWS BY WHICH THE MURDERERS MAINTAIN THEIR POWER AND MAKE YOU TRUCKLING SLAVES SHALL BE BLOTTED OUT BEFORE THE WAR IS AT AN END, AND YOU WILL BE JOYFULLY WELCOMED HOME WITHOUT DISGRACE, AND MORE THAN THAT, WITH THE HIGHEST HONOR, AS TRUE HEROES AND LIBERATORS OF YOUR COUNTRY. ... , . , , , .. , , ,, 4. Fear of injuring our fatherland if i . „ von go over to fhe trench and Eng . , .. ...... „ " Ish, and more than that if you fight 1 . . , , . , .. " on the r side, which is a matter for , I vour own choice. Comrades, I pledge you by all that we hold holy, I am a son of the (»er man people, I love them with every fiber of my being, more than ever a llohenzollern loved them; and the honor and welfare of my fatherland stand above all else, and are the only DUCHESS OF ABERCORN v • : 5 J $ ^ i m England's titled men and women are in this war to win, and are actuated by tlie same motives and feelings as the humblest Tommy. The noblemen uf England have as a whole gone into the army or navy and have proved I I : their courage and sacrifice as evi deuced in the day's citations and ensu alty lists. The women are also doing their bit. Few of England's prominent women are not enrolled and actively working in the various service leagues assisting the government. The Duchess of Abercorn inis two daughters in war service. One is working in a munition factory and tiie other is In the Red Cross service. lodestars of my dstlny. I know the war. the events biding up to it, its causes, and its pn^ress—more than the kaiser's governing likes. I assure you that the welfanof the German people demands that'ou come over; aye, that you turn yoiu-.annon around, that you join the entete and march with them to the Rhin and over it. and wrest our land fronthe claws of its destroyer, for now aftfor all time. FREE MANKIND FROM AN INSANE CRIMINAL. There are only two pttpie ways of ending this war: Eitha| urimn ity, without you. without the '%)urntion uf the German people, will «ihilute Prussian junkerdom, and v*| starve out tlie German people that tl, they may free mankind, for now ft. f or . ever, from a curse which rest»^, un them with the weight of Alpine sa N . from any insane criminal on a th v . who, by a stroke of the peu, ly change millions of men into oorp, and cripples, and ruin tiie industry ai welfare of a nation; either tills or yo yourselves will assist In the task o. freeing mankind. PEACE WILL NOT COME ONE HOUR BEFORE T HI3 GOAL IS REACHED, BUT NOT ONE HOUR LATER But if tliis goal should lie reached without you and in spite of you you will he ground down inti ruin, arid wlmt is more, the people of our German fatherland will be given over to the will of the conquerors. Then your intellectual and political leaders, the true leaders who are not the lackeys of the emperor, will have no right and no opportunity to inter pose a word concerning the future or der of the world and of Germany. But if >ou co-operate, and that with all your might, to carry out this purpose, the honor of the German people, which is today scorned as merely an insen sate tool in the hands of murderers, will be restored: and more than that, you will have a voice in tiie establish ment of tiie new order of the world and of Germany. And take my word for it we shall have peace, and we can have it on such terms that the German people will be happier in the future than they ever were before the war. But leave us in the lurch, and we must rec ognize witli sullen rage and scorn that we are the fellow countrymen of hope lessly deluded slaves, upon whom wilt rest tin* blame for their own ruin und for tiie annihilation of Germany. EMPEROR WICKEDLY DECEIVED YOU. Comrades in war, you have taken an oath of allegiance to your flag. But the emperor, too. took an oath nt the be ginning of ids reign, an oath of al legiance to the German constitution. Tlie confederation which forms tlie German empire was established ac to this constitution, "TO PRO TECT THE UNITED PROVINCES AND THE LEGAL RIGHTS THERE OF > AND TO PROMOTE THE WEL FARE 0F THE GERMAN PEOPLE." To K,lan! !t ,H tfu> foremost, indeed the ,mly ' ,,uty ot ' the Germun emperor. If mpei this purpose cannot lie accomplished without war, then the emperor may de clare war, hut not until then. But th® emperor wickedly, wantonly, by deceiv ing the German people, by mlsrepre „ T . - . . , senting facts and by forging officia . . . , ,, . documents, by breaking sacred treaties .... . . ... . . , . which he as the defender of lustice . , . . , . . . should have observed, has overthrown „ , . , . . _ Belgium, declared war on Russia, fr rance and Serbia, and has thereby violated the laws of iustir» «u. violated the laws of justice and th« constitution; has hurled the German empire down to ruin and has wrecked the welfare of the German people. Tic oath which you have taken means al egiance merely to an emperor who Is the protector of the German people, the guardian of their constitution, the true preserver of their welfare; it does not mean allegiance to burglars, mur derers, rascally drummers for greedy cannon makers. But you took no oatli against the German people whom It was this emperor's duty to protect ; whom you must now protect without him and against him, a miserable I wretch who betrays his country In the hour of greatest danger, who either from stupidity or from cowardice works against the good of his people. KNIFE AT GULLET OF SCOUNDRELS WHO RULE. I Let every man who loves the Ger : man people and the German fatherland come over ! Tlie password which is to lie given at the French posts is: REPUBLIC! He will meet not only French and Eng lish and Americans, but also German patriots, whose concern it is that our fatherland, the fatherland so shame fully and treacherously sold by Its rulers by divine right, should not be annihilated; and lie will be welcomed with honor by the French if he gives this password, and will be well treated Comrades In war, the knife Is at tin gullet of the scoundrels who rule you and they would rather starve and bleed the German people to death to the last man than make peace, or even make known the object «if their war. For I hey know very well that the hour of reckoning 1ms struck for them when they can no longer suppress tin 1 truth j beneath their martial law, and trample freedom in the dust. Before we make peace, therefore, and in order to make peace, we must first reckon with them. Dog Saves Three. Altoona. 1'a.—A barking dog saved | Mr. and Mrs. Scott Steele and their baby from probable cremation recent ; !y, when their home at Lakemont was burned. I The dog barked, whined and i jcratched nt their bedroom door until the family was awakened. Tiie lower portion of the house filled with sinon®, Steele had just time to guide tis fum j ily to safety when flames cut o.*f 'h« > stairway.