Sherman’s March to the Sea.

In truth, the sense of outrage which Americans feel over the horrors of war, while most creditable to them, is very often based upon an ignorance of the rules and regulations of so-called civilized warfare, and upon a sentimentality, which, though also very creditable, is unfortunately not one of the factors in the world’s work.  It would not hurt Americans occasionally to recall Sherman’s march to the sea, during which every known kind of devastation occurred, or to recall Gen. Hunter’s boast that he had made the Valley of Virginia such a desert that a crow could not find sustenance enough in it to fly from one side to the other, and yet at that time, in what we considered the supreme danger to our country, the conduct of those men was approved, and they themselves were almost deified for their actions.

While parallels are dangerous and the existence of one wrong does not make another action right, yet at the same time a very considerable amount of open-mindedness must be exercised in a neutral country when regarding the passionate devotions of combatant nations to their culture, to their safety, to their interest; and it should be recalled that in the heats and horrors of war it is extremely difficult, however trained or disciplined troops may be, to prevent outrages, and that so far as we have gone in accurate information the least that can be said is that it is slowly dawning upon us that horror for horror and outrage for outrage there has been no overwhelming balance on either side.

The Allies (this interview was received Tuesday morning) firmly believe that the struggle on the west is so indecisive up to this time that what will count for them is the duration of the war.  Lloyd George has just said, not in the exact language, but virtually, what Disraeli said in 1878:  “We don’t want to fight; but, by jingo, if we do we have got the ships, we have got the men, we have got the money, too.”  Those are the words that brought into use the expression “jingoists.”

Now, Lloyd George said the other day that it was the money which in the long run would count and that Great Britain had that; and the meetings that are held to induce Englishmen to enlist are addressed by speakers who meet with lots of applause when they say:  “We may not be able to put the same number of men into the field immediately that Germany was able to put or Russia was able to put, but in the long run, considering the attitude of all the different parts of our empire, we will be able to put just as many men, and therefore time is on our side both as regards force in the field and money to sustain it.” (The London Times confesses that enlistment in Ireland is a failure.)

Lloyd George says that for a comparatively short time England’s enemies can finance themselves and be very efficient, but that as time passes they unquestionably will exhaust not only their pecuniary means but their resources of men as well.  That is his position at this time.  Therefore, it does appear as if the long duration of the war was a thing desired, at least in Great Britain, as being their hope of victory.  Both Great Britain and France are wealthy countries.  Just how wealthy Germany is I do not think they realize, nor do we know, nor what its ultimate resources can be.