Perseverance is more prevailing than violence and many things which can not be overcome when they are together yield themselves up when taken little by little.
Plutarch.
DR. DILLON ON THE FIRST PHASE OF THE WAR
The following extract from an article by Dr. E. J. Dillon in the June number of the Contemporary Review would seem to indicate that England was at last deeply impressed with the formidable character of her foe and the terrible nature of the task before the British people. Dr. Dillon says:
“The first phase of the world-conflict has closed with the bitterness of exploded illusions, the alarming growth of the spectre of destruction, the quick materialization of the danger that threatens the noblest possessions of the human race, and the primary necessity of unanimous sacrifices before that danger can be displaced. Taking stock of the present situation just as this war is about to enter its second phase, we cannot but see that the central fact which calls for recognition is the amazing strength of the German nation. After ten months of warfare against Russia, Britain, France, Belgium and Serbia, it continues not only to live its own life, drawing from its own resources, but is able to send reinforcements of all kinds to Turkey and Austria, to achieve new conquests, plan grandiose operations, and win noteworthy victories over the allies.”
If England had realized the actual and potential strength of Germany from the outset, and made her dispositions accordingly, there might be a different story to tell. France seems to have girded up her loins from the start and to have accomplished wonders with her comparatively limited resources. Russia has made a gallant fight under the handicap of poor preparation and an immobile population. This is a war in which masses do not count against organized and trained efficiency. Great Britain alone has had the requisite resources and has failed to utilize them to the point of the utmost efficiency.
The only hope of the entente powers is in a long drawn out war. If given time, Russia may train her undisciplined hosts. France will make continuous sacrifices. Great Britain may focus her resources and bring them to bear at the point where they are most needed. If the entente allies can continue to hold substantially their present lines for another year, it would seem that Germany must begin to show signs of exhaustion. Any hope the entente allies may have had of invading Germany and crushing it must at the present time seem far from alluring.
A KINDLY VOICE FROM GERMANY
That all Germany is not given over to the doctrine of hate is shown by the following extract from an article by Prof. Ernst von Troeltsch in the Frankfürter Zeitung:
“We must not allow hatred to be magnified into theory or a system or let it be the guiding maxim that controls our existence. Hatred may inspire us with courage and driving power, but it is, politically speaking, in the long run, an evil counsellor. It gives rise to a bitter and fantastical idea of politics, which cannot be pursued, and therefore brings dangerous disappointment in its train. And in its influence on our moral and spiritual life hatred is most dangerous. Everyone is agreed that we need a deepening of our moral and spiritual sense, and hopes to see a new Germany rise out of the unparalleled sacrifices which we have made. This new Germany is not to be a compound of hate, but to spring from the creation of new sources of national strength. All her past whether it be based on Christian and Conservative ideas or on Liberal ideals, protests against race hatred, and all these theories which base the conduct of real politics on hate—theories which are not born in the field, but at the writing-desk, whose standard-bearers are not soldiers, but the self-important Philistine, and the bombastic writer at home.... We do not need to cultivate hate, but to deepen our insight into the terrible seriousness of the moment, and this all-important hour of our fate.”