ALFRED NOYES THINKS U.S. NAVY WILL END WAR SOON

"With the entrance of the United States into the war, and especially with the aid of its navy, it seems to me quite possible that the war can be brought to a successful termination by the Allies before many more months have passed," said Alfred Noyes, the British poet, in an interview with a CRIMSON reporter yesterday. "This war will liberate the world and the tremendous effect it will have on the arts cannot be measured at the present time, for it will not only affect poetry, to what extent no one can say, but it will change human life all over the globe. The hackneyed question as to how it will affect poetry is of little consequence, for the great European struggle will not decide whether we are to write in sonnet form or in vers libre, but will overturn principles and theories that have been adhered to for centuries."

When questioned as to the conditions in the English colleges before the outbreak of the war Mr. Noyes replied, "You see, we had one advantage over your country in that for years both Oxford and Cambridge have had a kind of officers' training corps, and although it was more or less a side issue and not taken as seriously as the R. O. T. C. in the United States, nevertheless, it has given hundreds of men a grounding in the first principles of military training. For years we had a certain amount of military drill, so when the war came we had a solid foundation on which to work. The college men of England furnished a great many officers for the army, and it does look now as if this class of men were going to provide the officers for the United States, because from practical experience college men seem to make the best officers. They are usually athletes and accustomed to the co-operation and discipline and team-work of athletics, all of which are a great help to the understanding of military discipline so necessary in the successful army.

"A great danger in democracy is that people resent any presence of necessary discipline as opposed to freedom; it is not necessary to Prussianize a nation through militarism, but an athlete knows that discipline and control are necessary to his own freedom in order to do his best work.

U. S. Navy of Great Importance.

"In regard to the part the United States will play in the war, I cannot see how it will be necessary for her to do more than use her navy to its fullest extent, to build ships to be convoyed across the Atlantic, and to destroy the menace of the submarine. The building up of your navy and merchant marine, resulting in a destroying of the submarine warfare, will remove Germany's last hope of winning the war and I also believe that it will hasten the end of the war if Germany sees that America is really in earnest and preparing in every possible way to use her full strength. This country can end the war by her navy alone before it will be necessary to send ships or soldiers to Europe, but the process will be quickened by the moral effect of America's preparing on all sides. Don't you people over here think that there would be a great moral advantage for the Allies and the Germans to see the Stars and Stripes along the Hindenburg line? After all, what it really means is this, and the pacifists will only waste their time in arguing against it, that here in the United States you have a nation of 100,000,000 people eager to prepare, with practically unlimited resources at its command, and the greatest inventive capacity in the world, and there is no doubt in my mind that in a year or two you could organize a larger army than any Power in Europe, and, what is more important, it would be of a better quality because it could be composed of young men of an athletic age. America with an army of that kind, thoroughly equipped, could absolutely insure her own safety both now and in the future, and could also practically dictate terms of peace to Germany when the war finally ends.

Allied Nations Did Not Want War.

"There was no wild outburst of enthusiasm for war in either England or any of the other countries when we saw that Germany was bound to cause our entrance into the war. We knew what we were up against and realized that it was different from all former wars. The situation was much similar to the one Voltaire was placed in when he was asked if he was in favor of capital punishment and replied, 'Certainly, let the assassins begin.' The war is being fought by the Germans on Allied territory, and is being carried nearer and nearer to the United States, as evidenced by the sinking of numerous American vessels by the German submarines. Some people have said that the enthusiasm is somewhat forced in this country, but thinking people realize the seriousness of America's entrance into the war, and even now in some places in England and France that are distant from the scene of action, the people are not yet in entire sympathy with the war, or at least cannot realize its full significance. A country with the wonderful freedom of thought that the United States enjoys is better able to realize the seriousness of war.

United States Has Been Protected.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the Allies have done the United States a great service during the war in return for the aid given the Allies by this country, for had Germany been able she would have come over to America and demanded an indemnity to help pay her huge debt, and when the war is over there will be an immense amount of evidence to prove this statement. There is absolutely no doubt but that the Zimmermann note had more behind it than was published, and there are hundreds of people engaged today in German spy work on this side of the water. And also does it seem probable that the United States could have sent Bernstorff home without having Germany fly at America, if the Allies had not been keeping her busy in Europe? If peace had come before the entrance of this country into the war Germany would have jumped at the chance of get on her feet by securing a huge war indemnity here.

War Can be Ended in Three Months.

"If the United States demonstrates to Germany that her submarine warfare is a failure the war will only last a few months longer, as this is Germany's last hope, and only the submarines can win the war for her. If Germany can be shown this she is not so mad as to desire her own ruin, and the energy the United States puts into her preparation will decide this question. Even now I believe the submarine campaign to be a failure, and America can make it even more of a one.

"Your Reserve Officers" Training Corps is certainly on the right track, and a small contingent of United States soldiers sent over to Europe would greatly strengthen the bonds between free countries, and the reception they would get in England and France would be extraordinary. It will be worth while to establish the best kind of relations because perhaps ten years from now it will be a good idea for England and America to be together on the side of democracy.