in this war?' Edgecumbe repeated.
'Have we left anything undone that we could have done? Are there any
forces to be brought into play which have not yet been used? Do you see
any great dangers ahead? What must we do more? You see, I have been a
long time at the front, and I know what fighting is; but naturally, as a
soldier, my standpoint of vision is small and circumscribed. How does it
appeal to you, who, as a statesman, must necessarily take a larger view?'

The Cabinet Minister seemed to be collecting his thoughts for a few
seconds, then he said, 'Of course the question is a very big one. First
of all, take the East. If Russia is freed from traitors, and if she
holds together,--and if, with the help that we can give her, she can have
enough munitions, I don't think we need fear anything there. Then, while
our Salonica effort doesn't seem to amount to much, we are holding up a
vast number of men, and doing good work. But I do not expect anything
decisive from there. Then, in a way, we are doing valuable work in
Mesopotamia and Palestine; by that means we are gradually wearing down
the Turks. When we come nearer home,--Italy is doing very well. She'll
make a big push in a few months, and we shall be able to help her.
France is, of course, becoming a bit exhausted, but France is good for a
long while yet. It is we who have to play the decisive game, and if we
hold together, as I believe we shall if we have no Labour troubles, so
that munitions and supplies may be plentiful, we shall be stronger in the
field than the Germans are. We have beaten them in big guns, in
explosives, and in men. Of course it'll be a long, tough fight, for the
Germans realize that it is neck or nothing with them, and they'll hold
out to the last. But we are the strongest side, and in the end they'll
crumple up.'

'Then you think,' asked Edgecumbe, 'that our victory will depend on these
things?--on stronger armies, and a bigger supply of munitions?'

'That, and the ability of our generals. The German generals are very
able men, but I think we beat them even there.'

'Then that is how you roughly outline our forces, and our hopes of
victory?'

'Yes, that is it, roughly,' replied the Minister.

'May I ask whether that is the view of the Government as a whole?'

'What other view is there?'

'Then where does God come in?'

He asked the question simply, but evidently he was deeply in earnest. I
recognized the intensity of