The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1918. THE DANGER OF. PLAYING WITH THE DEVIL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 18, 16 October 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1918. THE DANGER OF. PLAYING WITH THE DEVIL

The United States Government has definitely announced that mere will be no armistice; that the dispatch of troops overseas will continue; that the War Department is going right ahead. This decision has been arrived at after consultation with Me. Lloyd George and the French Premier (M, ClemenOEAU). It is of the utmost importance that the Allies should not allow the enemy to drive a wedge between them.- They ■ must stand together solid as a rock until victory has been won, until peace has been; securely established," and until a way has been discovered of permanently restraining the greed and ambition of predatory Powers. The .unequivocal declaration of the Allies of their resolve to fight on with unabated vigour will meet with the full approval of the Press and public in all the Allied countries. The, time for talking to the enemy has not yet arrived. Germany is extremely anxious to open a general 'discussion which would.enable her to raise all sorts of side issuee with the object of. gaining time and of extricating herself from the desperate position into which she has now been driven. Many people felt that it was a mistake to have made any reply to her, cry of distress except to insist upon unconditional surrender. That was what we demanded in the 1 case of Bulgaria, and that is what we should demand in the case of Turkey, and of Austria and of Germany, the leader of the criminal gang. There is room for difference of opinion as to the wisdom of President Wilson's action _ in getting into communication with Berlin. It is true that he did not commit the Allies to anything that would hinder or hamper their military operations; but he may have conveyed the impression that they might be willing to modify their oft-expressed resolve not to bargain or compromise; No doubt every word used by President Wilson .in his communications with Germany was very carefully weighed, but the "conversation" has aroused a-good deal of anxiety among the peoples of the Allied" nations. The slightest slip might have disastrous consequences. He took a risk of getting entangled in an undesirable argument and of being led; into . some carefully-laid trap. Honourable men are. heavily handicapped when thoy engage in a battle of words and wits with a gang of clever schemers who are not fettered, by any conscientious scruples. It has been truly said that "few may play with the devil and win." It is to be hoped 1 ' that President Wilson has not forgotten the old proverb : "He must have a long spoon that sups with the devil. ,r The German diplomatists are manoeuvring for position. ■ As soon as they begin to speak fair words we ..must be more wary than ever. In a recent letter to the London'rime. 1 !, Dr. W. H. D. Rouse, Headmaster of Perse Grammar School, Cambridge, states that he has known the Germans for more than 30 years by personal intercourse and by study of what they sayt of themselves. "They bully the weak, they lick the boots of the strong,, and they deceive everyone who trusts them. They are very soft-spoken and plausible, but this is only a mask" which is thrown aside as soon as it is no longer necessary. Thoy are also, completely callous and void of mercy; they are accomplished natural liars, ready'on the spur of the moment to provide that illustrative detail which makes a bald narrative convincing. Possibly the next generation of Germans may he brought up better, but the present generation is hopeless." .The clever rogues realise' that they- cannot lose anything at the present' juncture by argumentation, and they reckon on the chance of gaining something. In dealing with such people the Allies should use few words and i many guns. I It is good to have the authoritative assurance that President_ Wilson does not desire to weaken in the slightest degree the Allied will to victory, and that the cessation of hostilities can only come when the generals in the field think fit. If the German generals want an armistice they must apply. to Marshal Foch for it, and tie has stated that he has not yet finished _ his battle. The interference of politicians at the present moment would be inexcusable and might give the foe. time to §efc his second wind. If we want to impose our will on the enemy we must first break his will, and that.

can only bo decisively done by victory on the battlefield. Marshal Foch tells us that the only sure way

by which a nation can impose its will upon an enemy is by the _ destruction of the , enemy's organised forces in the field. "War undertakes and 'prepares the destruction by the battle on such a scale ae brings about the overthrow of the adversary, the disorganisation of his Higher Command, the destruction of his discipline, and the nullification of his units as far as their fighting power is concerned." That is the central act of war, says Marshal Foch, and "it is a battle of this kind that is the one and only argument of war, the single aim to which all strategic operations lead." Marshal Foch is now in the middle of his great argument, and it would be madness to allow him to be interrupted by the babblings of politicians or the wailings of defeatists. He must have the fullest opportunity of finishing his work, and his work will not do finished until_ Germany has surrendered unconditionally. When Marshal Foch's "argu-

menfc of war" has culminated in complete victory, it will be time enough for the argument of diplomacy to begin. We have President Wilson's emphatic assurance that "no halfway decision would be tolerable—that no halfway decision is conceivable." That being so, the fight must go on until the enemy surrenders, or until Marshal Foch has achieved the single aim to which all strategic operations lead—the destruction of the enemy's organised forces in the field.