Herr von Kuhlmann necessarily suffers the fate of German Ministers
who are associated with a muse that fails. Every Minister who is put forward by the German Government to test the working value of a particular policy knows that ho has a potential rope round his neck and a potential chaplet of bay-leaves on his brow. In this case the rope has triumphed over the chaplet. The fact remains, however, that when Herr von Kuhlmann was put forward to administer the cold douche the German Higher Command (whatever General von Ludendorff himself may have thought) were not agreed about the desirability of further frantic efforts on the Western Front. That disagreement was probably one of the causes of the delay in the German offensive. Now that the Pan- Germans have prevailed the offensive must be continued as quickly as possible. It will be continued, however, with doubt gnawing at the heart of many members of the German Higher Command. So much the better for us.
