NOTES ON THE WAR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2225, 11 August 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR.

It is a. jrreat day for France. For over 40 years her people have writhed under-the, loss of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. She has lived for the day when she might 1 strike a blow for her lost territory; and now she has struck,,and struck home.-. Even the magnificent of Liege bv the Belgian troops is overshadowed in spectacular effect by the news which conies to hand to-day of the French success in Alsace. Nothing more inspiring to French arms could he conceived than this initial brilliant success in the movement against; the German forces at Altkirch. One nan well understand the' emotions which -the -patriotic Frenchmen and impelled them forward in that irresistible y bayonet charge Against the German entrenchments. Small wonder is it that on such' an occasion they should have swept all before them. The 'fact that the Germans hava been pressed back beyond the important town of Mulhausen, 12 miles from the French frontier, and thai the French forces havo. been jubilantly welcomed by the townspeople, may bo taken as evidence of tho, completeness of this initial _sucoess on the part of France. This is supported by the report that the Germans have vacated Luxemburg. The Josses on both sides in hand-to-hand fighting of the nature, described in our- cable. neWs must Kaye been very heavy. The Gorman casualties are set down at 30,000; the French-losses we do not know. TVhile tho French troops were inr vading Germany in the south 'and for'Efng their way to Mulhausen, th-s, ißelgians were continuing-to hold in check-.the German, forces in the-north. German -accounts of the. fighting at, Liego admit that the attack on the fortress was on the whole unsuccessful, but it is claimed that the German 'battalions '.'■■ hold Liege fast in their hands. It may be some consolation to the German people to learn that Liege cannot run away from their .troops, but no one knows better than the Kaiser himself that the last thing desired by Germany is that it should have its northen army detained before Liege. _ It is true enough that ■ Liege cannot ' get away ' from the German troops; it does not want to. Tho : purpose of the Belgians is to provent the Germans breaking through the line of defence which blocks their way aoross the river Meuso at Liege, and this is what has been accomplished. Whatever interpretation .Germany may choose to put on th'c result of tho engagement at Liege; the fact remains that the efforts of its army in this direction up to the present have been completely frustrated.This is confirmed by tho news to-day that a new line of attack' is being attempted at Huy, some 18 or 20 miles south of Liei-je. The purpose of the German forces is to reach Huy— which, though not affording so good a crossing for an army as is to. be found north of Liege, is less strongly fortified—before the French and Belgian troops can junction at that point. It is in a measure a race between the Germans and the French troops which are on their way to the '. assistance of the Belgians. News from other centres of conflict ' indicates that the \ Austrians have failed in all their attempts to invade Servian territory. The main body of the Servian army is composed of seasoned troops, fresh from their battles in.the Balkans, and excellent fighting men. They naturally : are greatly encouraged by tho turn events have taken, and will bo a serious source of trouble to the Austrians, faced with the threatened invasion of. their eastern frontier by tho powerful forces of Russia. The Servians are taking steps to. foment trouble amongst the Bosnians, who were forced to come under Austrian rulo too recently- to have any great lovo for_, the Austrians. Meanwhile Russia is steadily advancing her great armies and threatening .Germany and Austria inv the east. Already she has moved well forward into Austrian territory, and at any moment now_ we may have news of • serious fighting in this quarter. From the sea comes one small item, which is valuable chiefly as indicating the ■ activities of, the British cruising fleet. The news is that German submarines attacked a fleet of British cruisers, with the result that one submarine was sunk, while theBritish vessels escaped unscathed.. From this it would seem that the cruisers have been fairly close inshore, probably ' watching tho pos-. sible points of exit for the German High Sea Fleet. One of the-uses for whscn' submarines aro specially intended is to sally out and attack hostile vessels blockading a port. Tho suggestion has been made that the German naval plans probably would Do based on the idea of keeping the main fleet in tho shelter of' tho Kiel Canal, thus compelling tho British fleet to keep watch outside of tho mouth of the Elbe, and also in the North Sea at the entrance to the Baltic. In the meanwhile the submarines might as opportunity offered saliy out and attempt to torpedo any British warships which might ven- - turo within range. The loss of a few British' Dreadnoughts in this way 1 would oaualise tho forces,, and enable

the German fleet to risk a big naval battle. In theory the idea is an excellent one, but British Admirals are quit© well aware of tho possibilities of the submarine, and arc hardly likely to take risks of the nature suggested. In the case of which we are told to-day, the commanders of tho British cruising vessels would seem to have been on the alert, and the consequences were the loss of a German submarine.

There has been a good deal ofspeculation as to German cruisors in the Pacific, and innumerable rumours. As a matter of fact, the German Pacifio Islands Squadron consists of three vessels: the Condor, an unprotected cruiser of 1630 tons and a speed of 17 knots; the Cormoran, a similar vessel, and.the Planet, a small surveying ship with a speed of 10 knots. These are all comparatively insignificant war vessels, and could be dealt with easily enough by the New Zealand fleet, to say nothing of the Australian fleet. The German China Sea Squadron, which has its base at Kiaocnau, is much more powerful, but is completely overshadowed by the British fleet in those waters. A point of linterest is that a few weeks ago certain vessels of the German China Sea Squadron set out on a cruise amongst the Pacific Islands. Exactly what vessels .thesewere does not seem to be quite clear; all that is definitely known is thai tho Nurnberg.'a light cruiser of 3450 tons, a speed of _ 23.5 knots- and armed with ten 4.1-inch guns, was reported in our cable news of August 4 to have left Honolulu for Samoa. This accounts for four German warships in the Pacific Islands, but in Australia the impression seems ■ .to prevail that the only enemy's vessels likely to .be found .in these waters are the three regularly stationed there. Latest Australian files .to hand-contain a significant item .of. news concerning German shipping movements. Several German-owned steamers left Sydney and Newcastle harbours, a few hours before the declaration of war between Britain and Germany, and all sailed with sealed orders, which were to be opened only on their getting well clear of. the Australian coast.. It is suspected that the sealed orders contained instructions for the vessels to meet at a given rendezvous, where they would find German warships ready to convoy them to a neutral port. The Australian fleet left port a day or two later for an unknown destination.

• The action of the native rulers of India in placing their resources at the disposal of the Erapiro at the present juncture,.and the assurances of prominent Indians in London of their loyalty and support are impressive tributes to the justice of Britain's rule. In India, as in tho Motherland and the Overseas Dominions, internal differences are being thrust into tho background in the presence of external foes. - His Majesty's great Asiatic possession is ready to do its part in maintaining the honour and safety of the Empire. The attitude of India shows that Britain's efforts for the establishment of peace, prosperity, and good government have not been in vain. Mr. Taet, tho ex-President of 'the United States, recently declared that when he found himself in touch ,with"thei problem of Imperialism he looked to the history of the * British Empire for guidance,. He went on to.say: •.■'! ' ''.'. I do not wish to make invidious comparisons, but I think-history so plainly shows the fact that it may be asserted without fear of contradiction that, but for English enterprise, English courage,, and the English sense of responsibility in governing other races, in taking over and improving countries the world round, the civilisation of tho world would have been greatly retarded. . , . ■ ■ This is a glowing and generous tribute, and the state of the British Empire to-day is a, convincing witness to its truth. Tho Empire stands before the world as a great family of nations, united in peace, and welded together in war. The announcement was made yesterday that our expeditionary force is to sail for Europe. The. response to the call to arms has been prompt and enthusiastic throughout the whole Empire. Nothing could be better than the readiness shown by the soldiers of the Overseas Dominions to put thejmselyes at the disposal of the Imperial authorities, quite willing to go whenever and wherever they may be required. Our expeditionary force is fortunate 'in having Sir Alexander Godley as its commanding officer. He knows what actual warfare is, having served with distinction in -South Africa, and he thoroughly understands his men and their capabilities.