The Press. Wednesday, March 20, 1918. The Outlook for the Allies.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16165, 20 March 1918, Page 6

The Press. Wednesday, March 20, 1918. The Outlook for the Allies.

Of all tho spoechcs delivered in England recently regarding tho war and tho outlook for the Allies, perhaps the most instructive and illuminating is that delivered by Sir Auckland Geddes, in tho House of Commons, on January 14th, in introducing what is known as tho Man Power Bill to enable the Government to comb out from various industries a number of men of military age at present possessing certificates of exemption. On the whole, it was of a reassuring nature. Ho said tho British armies in the field in December, 1916, ivcro stronger than in December, 1915, md stronger again in December, 1917, than in December, 1916—stronger not only in establishment, bat in ration strength. Every day, ho pointed out, this hitting forco of Britain becomes of greater importance to the Alliance. ."On Britain, and on the-skill with " which, she handles her man-power in "tho months to come, everything defends." It -was clear that we must prepare'"to play part on the field of "battle until America came in, and that meant men, more men for the Army. The international position -was dealt with by Sir Auckland Geddes in a calm, business-like fashion, which' in tends to inspire confidence that

the Allies realise exactly what they have io face, and have taken appropriate steps to meet the danger. The Government, ho said, had considered in each case tho present fighting strength of the forces in tho iielcl; the reserves now in tho armies, and the potential reserves still in civil life. The results of this examination were not unsatisfactory. "Wholly excluding Russia and Houmania. Britain and her Allies had a substantial superiority, both in fighting strength and in, ration strength over the armies of the Central Powers. Regarded therefore from a purely statistical point of view, there was 110 cause for anxiety that the enemy, owing to the Russian collapse, would bo able io bring such forces to bear on the "Western front as to overwhelm us 1)V sheer weight .of numbers. But, as Sir Auckland Geddcs went on to observe, figures are not an accurate index of fighting capacity. By the possession of a unified system of command, and an interior position with good railway communications, the enemy possess an undoubted advantage over the Allies. But in stability and solidarity of public opinion, tho enemy possess 110 corresponding advantage. War weariness in Austria, he added, was surely very great, :md in Germany it was greater than in England. Turkey was utterly war-woary. On the other hand public opinion carried less weight in tho enemy countries than in the more democratic Allied countries. The Allies, however, had tlio inestimable advantage of the accession of the United States of America, and the age composition of the opposing armies must not be forgotten. Already the Germans have had to place lads of IS in tho trenches on the Russian front as compared with the British ago limit of 19 for service overseas, the Frenoh age limit of 20 for service in the field, and the American age limit of 21. In Austria the upper age limit has been raised to 00. Those figures | tend to show that the enemy reserves of man-power are more nearly exhausted than those of the Allies. The estimates and calculations put forward by Sir Auckland Geddes to show approximately what the withdrawal of Russia means to tho Central Powers in terms of man-power on the Western front aro of especial interest at this juncture. We need not go into the details, but will simply state that it is estimated that the secession of Russia has added to the potential enemy strength on tho Western front, including Italy", possibly as many as 1,600,000 men, without taking into consideration the reserves which would otherwise have been required for service on the Russian front. " Nevertheless the Minister was able to give the House of Commons the assurance that the armies of Britain and her Allies were at present in relative numbers and "moral" in a position to face at least on- equal terms the forces of the enemy at present opposed to them, and that if the necessary reinforcements were found during the present year, as without doubt they could and ought to be found, they could face any additional forces which the enemy could bring into the field. As the full force of America came into play "the endurance of tho Allies would be " justified by the establishment of a " superiority which should prove tho " sure herald of complete and final vic- " tory." It is tantalising to think that if Russia had only held out, she and the rest of the Allied Powers would in all human probability have secured a complete victory during the present year. Nor is it a soothing reflection that it was in cpnsequence of the action of Russia in 1914 that we came into the war. Nevertheless the defection. of Russia and the awful fate which res befallen her people in consequence surely supply additional reasons of the most compelling kind why we should strain every effort to compass as early as possible the complete victory which still lies within our reach.