eat of the submarine question coming
to a head, has always been on the side of peace, with the result
that in more than one case, and particularly in the cases of the
sinking of the _Marina_ and _Arabia_, any serious agitation on
the part of the Press has been avoided. With regard to the general
war situation, the conviction has for some time been gaining ground
with the great majority of the leading American newspapers, that a
decisive victory by either of the two belligerent groups of Powers
is no longer to be expected. With the exception of a continually
dwindling minority which even to-day still promise their readers
the 'ultimate victory' of the Entente Powers, the verdict of the
American Press on the probable result of the war is 'a draw,' 'a
stalemate.' Only a few newspapers, to which belong those of the
Hearst Syndicate, confess to the belief in 'a stalemate, or a victory
of the Teutonic Allies.' How those newspapers which are at the
service of our enemies, and which still hold to the legend of a
miscarried German war of aggression, really judge the situation is
only seen occasionally from incidental statements like the following
confession of the _New York Tribune_, which preaches against a
peace on the basis of the present position; this paper says that
the American people should see that if the Allies were to conclude
peace now the result would be a tremendous victory for Germany.
Such isolated, misleading views as this do not, however, succeed
in affecting in any way the general impression that by far the
greater part of the leading newspapers regard the war as indecisive,
especially after the fruitless conclusion of our operations before
Verdun, the collapse of the great offensives on the Somme and in
southern Galicia, as well as in view of the fact, confirmed on
many sides, that the British blockade has not attained its end,
the starvation of Germany.

"Our recent feats of arms in Rumania have hardly affected this
opinion. In view of the great hopes, placed by our enemies and
the newspapers in their service, on Rumania's entry into the war,
these successes are recognized on all sides readily or grudgingly
and without any spark of sympathy for the defeated country, and in
some cases are even hailed as brilliant military achievements of
the first rank. The preponderating opinion of the Press, however,
passes over the fact that the conquest of Rumania, although opening
up to Germany important new resources,