January 35, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
LAND & WATER 
OLD SERJEANTS' INN, LONDON, W.C. 
Telephone HOLBORN 2828. 
THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1917 
The Proprietors of " Land & Water" beg to announce 
that, owing to the considerable increase in ihe cost of 
production, the price of this journal has been raised 
to 7d. This increase will beg'n with the next issue, 
Thursday, February 1st, and will be maintained for the 
duration of the War. Any readers who may experience 
difficulty in obtaining their weekly copy should 
apply direct to the Publisher of "Land & Water," 
5, Chancery Lane, London, E.G. 
CONTENTS 
- PAGE 
The Crucifixion of Belgium. By Louis Raemaekers i 
Peace after Victory (Leader) 3 
Neutral Opinion. By Hilaire Belloc . 4 
Mr. Wilson and the War. By Arthur Pollen lo 
Opening of the 1917 Campaign : IL By Colonel Feyler 13 
Rail Power versus Sea Power. By Harold Cox 15 
A Birth of III Omen. By John Trevena ' 16 
The Golden Triangle, by Jlaiiricc Lcblanc 18 
The West End 22 
Kit and Equipment 25' 
PEACE AFTER VICTORY 
THROUGH all the bloodshed, fury and misery 
of the Great War, civilization has striven to 
discern a dawn of imiversal peace once the fight- 
ing is at an end. It has been buoyed in this hope 
by the knowledge that war is no longer the pro- 
fession of a single class and caste, but embraces whole 
nations, men and women and cWldren ; from the highest 
to the lowest all in Europe have learnt its full meaning 
in the last three years ; there can be no deceiving free 
peoples in the future with big words and fine phrases 
about glory and honour. When, therefore, the President 
of the United States addresses his Senate on the theme 
of universal peace, he is certain of a respectful hearing 
throughout the bounds of civilization and of a sincere 
endeavour to arrive at the exact meaning which his 
words are intended to convey. But the subject is such 
a large one that misconception and misunderstanding 
are bound to ensue. So when we find the person who 
exercises the highest authority on the American Con- 
tinent stating that " only a tranquil Europe can be a 
stable Europe," the question inevitably arises whether 
the same principle does not apply with equal force on his 
side of the Atlantic and that the first step towards the 
larger programme ought not to be the assured tranquility 
of Mexico ? 
President Wilson is an idealist ; he would use liis high 
power to obtain for posterity a happier and more secure 
world than has hitherto been possible. But he must not 
allow himself to be carried aloft by the vision beautiful 
and to lose sight of the common ground on which his 
feet stand. Has there ever been in the history of the 
human race such a thing as " peace without victory." 
Whene\-er hostilities have terminated, one or other side 
has gained definite advantage, which it has claimed 
rightly as " victory." Much the most thorougli example 
of this in our time was the victory of the Northern over 
the^ Southern States of America. 'Indeed no other 
military decision of modern times is comparable to it 
for finality, nor has any been followed by such drastic 
and political consequences. It was an utterly crushing 
and complete defeat, due to the determination of the 
successful party to achieve an equally crushing and 
complete victory. The defeated party was bereft of all 
political power whatsoever, and of all power of expres- 
sion. It was ruined economically for more than a 
generation, its territory was systematically garrisoned 
by the \ictors, and down to the smallest details of its 
local administration it was entirely subject to them, and 
entirely in their' hjhids. For yeai's it lived only as a 
conquered territory ; and all this was because the belli- . 
gerents in that great struggle knew very well that with- 
out victory there could be no peace. 
It was only last week that the Kaiser in his letter 
to the King of Wurtemberg appealed to the German 
people " to hold on with blood and treasure until the 
arrogance of our enemies is shattered by the unshakable 
Knll lo victory of the Fatherland and. of its Loyal Allies." 
But one answer is possible to such a challenge-rcomplete 
military defeat. There can be no peace worth the paper 
it is written on until the spirit that finds expression in 
these menacing words is ovirthrown and destroyed. It 
is the spirit which began the war and which is responsible 
for the needless death and agony caused to the unarmed 
populations of the regions occupied by the Gennan armies. 
There is nothing new in its manifestation, humanity has 
suffered cruelly under it from the dawn of time, but the 
Allies assert it to be out of consonance with civilization 
and it must perish utterly, for, to quote Mr. Wilson's 
own words, " there can be no stability where the will is 
in rebellion, where there is not tranquility of spirit and a 
sense of justice, of freedom and of right." The will to 
victory has been the dominating Prussian influence -for 
fifty years and to it may be directly traced all, or almost 
all, the disturbances of European peace which haA'e 
occuiTcd throughout that period. 
The Allies arc at one in their resolute determination 
that peace can only follow after victory. This aspect 
was well defined in the Times on Tuesday. Our contem- 
porary wrote : " The AlHes believe victory peace to be 
as essential as Mr. Lincoln believed it to be essential in the 
Civil War. They believe it to be essential for the attain- 
ment of those very aims of a moral and ideal kind whicli 
Mr. Wilson regards as indispensable foundations of a 
solid and abiding peace such as America might help to 
guarantee. There can be no ' drawn war ' between 
the spirit of Prussian militarism and the spirit of real 
peace which the AlUes, the Americans, and indeed all 
neutrals, desire. ' Militarism ' cannot be exorcised 
except by defeat in the field, and therefore the Allies 
can hear of no peace which is not a victory peace." 
To this end every effort in the Allied countries is now 
bent. Our enemies are fully awai;e of the fact, which is 
one reason why there have been so many peace rumours 
in the air apart from Mr. Wilson's pronouncements. 
In this issue we conclude the analysis of the coming 
campaign which has been made by Colonel Feyler, a Swiss / 
military writer of a European reputation, whose opinions 
are studied as closely by military students in Germany 
as in England. The conclusion Colonel Feyler arrives at 
is " that the campaign of 1917 is opening under auspices 
more favourable to the champions of a Europe that de- 
sires the development of the democratic rights of nations 
than to the champions of a reactionary Eiu-ope that 
claims to be reviving a kind of Holy Alliance, inspired 
by Jehovah." So the Allies fight on in good spirit and 
in complete concord among themselves about the end to be 
gained. They realise intensely that they are warring for 
the very principles and high qualities forwhich the great 
American democracy has stood and if when the victory 
is won, this democracy, putting aside its fear of entangling 
alliances, will join in policing the international world, 
its offer will be cordially accepted. 
