GERMANY'S MILITARY DEFEAT NECESSARY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 75, 28 July 1915, Page 4

GERMANY'S MILITARY DEFEAT NECESSARY.

It is not at all sale to predict that

oven severe economic pressure will cause Germany to give in unless overwhelmingly defeated militarily, and while, its a writer in the Christchlirch

Press points out it is interesting to learn from Mr •). M. Robertson andj the Wall Street Journal that Germany will soon fee bankrupt, British people will do well to put this consideration to one side and concentrate their attention firmly on the defeat of Germany by military means. The writer referred to goes on to say: Serious delay has til ready been caused in the marshalling of our strength by the erroneous belief I hat Germany was in serious need of certain things vital, lo the making of war. and that economic forces would compel her to yield.! It is so important that everybody should realise the necessity of crushing Germany by force of arms that we are' not sure thai ;t man is not doing his country a disservice who speaks of the impending bankrupty of Germany ( without at the same time laying stress on the fact that nothing less titan the! utmost effort will suffice. Estimates of Germany's financial position are based on economics, and ignore moral factors. It is no doubt true from the economic point of view that Germany is approaching bankruptcy. The na-. ,;,>,, la u „ I« ~v,,.,1.- "livinw nil its l

tion is, so to speak, "living on its own Fat," and living with the utmost! prodigality. But it is confident ofj victory an<! of recouping from victory its enormous outlay, and so long as.

that spirit prevails, the growing mountain of unbacked paper currency will not deter it from going on with its tremendous expenditure, hi the American Civil War the Confederacy, though it lacked the wealth and industrial resources of the North, and was cut off from the outside world by the Union's fleet, held out for four] years. In those tour years not more than £5.4000,000 in coin found its way into the Confederate Treasury. The Government accepted payments of taxes in kind, in hales of cotton, or in agricultural produce. Paper money was issued in such immense quantities, and so irregularly, that it is impossible to tell how much was afloat. It depreciated so much that in March. 1865; a gold

dollar was worth sixty-one dollars in Confederate paper. In spite of these financial difficulties, the South did not acknowledge defeat until its military strength was exhausted.