NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2228, 14 August 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

• The Kaisee's great army which has'been moving on France and Belgium is reported to-day to have come to a'halt, and the Belgian War Office announces : that a retreating movement by the German forces* has become more pronounced. Thb suggestion is ' made that ■ the, German Chief of Staff as hesitating to give battle, Too muoh importance should nofrbe attached to news of • this _ description. : ' Before ■ two huge armies such as those which represent the' Allies and Germany . come to grips in earnest there is certain to be a good deal; of preliminary fighting an'd manoeuvring of troops. It' may be, of oourse, that the.' position taken up by the Allies is too strong for the invaders to hpp'e to force, or that a counter-move has been made which has upset the German plan of attack. It is fairly safe to assume however, that the German 'movement indicates something else ■■ than retreat. ,' Germany cannot Afford to retreat'unless it is to secure , a more; advantageous position from which to renew her attack. Her war plans against : France have been built entirely on the beliof that success must be won by a quick, aggressive , movement by her mighty army, which would sweep all: before it. Every hour's delay must tell against German plans, and German policy: for on Eastern frontier the slowmoving but colossal army of Russia is pressing steadily forward, to throw its weight into the scale. The longer the German forces are held, in check in the west the more their plans are likely to be embarrassed by the activities of- Russia in the east. It seems improbable in such circumstances that:a German attack in force, can be long delayed. : In the meantime there have been further minor encounters around Liege, and the reports credit the Belgium forces with having repulsed tho invaders on each occasion.

While German plans have unquestionably been upset- in the weak welcome news comes to hand of Rus 8 sian activities in the .east. News from.this centre of.conflict has heen scarce, and tho result of such fight ing as has been recorded has left us in doubt both as to the importance of the engagenients and the outcome. The most satisfactory feature is : the evidence affordod\pf the Russian advance. The sooner, Russia can bring her troops into "the area of active conflict the better it will, bo for the Allies. Servia and little Montenegro aro moving forward in the south, where, the Austrian forces havo been weakened by withdrawals to the western frontier against France, and to the eastern frontier to face the invading army of Russia. England is now declared to be at war with Austria, and as a consequence we may shortly' hear, of a naval movement in, the Adriatic, where the Austrian fleet has shown some' activity against Montenegro. By closing up Austria's port on the Adriatic,, another blow would be struck at the food supplies of the Austro-German combination. ' .

?A GBATIFYINQ item is the intimation concerning the steps taken by the British Admiralty to clear the trade routes in the Atlantic of raiding cruisers. A big fleet of English and French cruisers is to be dispatched to the waters off the South American coast, where some half dozen German cruisers are-said to have collected, and ere long we may expect toi learn that this route over which our Homeward bound] steamers pass has been cleared of hostile ships. German cruisers in the South Atlantic must experience great difficulty in coaling, except on the. African Const, and even there it will now be extremely difficult-if not impossible for them to obtain supplies. 'Such of them as do not fall into the hands of tho British and French cruising fleet will probably run for some neutral port, and be dismantled. This thorough and systematic sweeping of hostile cruisers from' tho trade routes of the . Empire should have' an immediate effect in stimulating our ovorsoas trade. There has been a tcudoncy to overrate the risks, but when account is taken of tho difficulties which must • be experienced by the oacuur.'s vo&sels in obtaining coal

supplies and the danger they run from the number .of our own cruisers now patrolling tho trade routes, it will bo seen that-there-iß.no goodground for allowing our trade to slacken off for fear of the risks of transport. . The ohange of attitude on the part of Germany in respecting the neutrality of Holland arises from two causes. In. the first place she would no\v gain very little by tres : passing with her armies on Dutch territory,' and, secondly, sho would necessarily antagonise tho Dutch, and not only make an active enemy but cut off a valuable source of supplies. A substantial part of' Germany's tra,do passes the ports of Holland, being transported inland by way of the River Rhine and by canals vind railways. Rotterdam is the chief port of Holland its inward shipping in 1913 totalling some 11 million tons; that of Am.stordam being about 2 millions. Cologne, between 35 and 40 miles from tho Belgium frontier, and between 50 and 60 miles, as the orow flies, from the scene of tho fighting near Liege, is a convenient and recognised distributing centre for foodstuffs arriving by way of Holland. The town is situated on the navigable River- Rhine, and. its shipping amounts to considerably over a million tons annually. It is also the centre, of a perfect network of railways, and its importance has been recognised by Germany to the extent of making it one of its most strongly fortified towns .The cable news informs us this morning that the Allies hope to cut off tho supply of foodstuffs to ' Germany by way of, Holland by moving forward on Cologne. This is a bioundertaking, and could' only be attempted by a flanking movement, or after defeating the. German forces now arrayed against Belgium and France in the north. For the Allies to reach Cologne would seem to first necessitate a crushing German , reverse. ■■'.■■■.

Now that German,trade with the outer world has been practically annihilated owing to/Britain's superior sea power, the question of Germany's food supply is of particular interest. Germany imports a large quantity of foodstuffs, but the cutting, off of this supply is not likely to be severely felt lor some time. The general opinion seems to be that the country will be able to,'.produce sufficient ;for local,consumption , -for at least six months." finds it necessary to import about 7,000,000 quarters.of wheat every year. Her own annual output ranges from •17,000,000 to / 20,000,000- quarters, whwh represents- only two bushels of population, whereas the British average is five bushels. The yield of rye, which is about two bushels per head, must, also be taken into account, 'while the combined output of oats and ba,rley is about the same as that ,of rye, and potatoes represent no'less than 16 cwt. per head. It is, of course, necessary to allow for a shortage of labour for harvesting and the'damaging of the crops by military operations. The cereal crops are harvested in Germany during the months of August and September. The meat supplies are probably sufficient to,meet the ordinary needsof the people. It has to be remembered that Austria will be able to give her ally a good deal of help as far as food is , concerned. Enormous loss must, of:course, result from,the stoppage of oversea trade,and the disorganisation- of the industries ofHhe nation. people aa-e sure to suffer much privation and hardship, but from present appearances actual starvation is a more remote possibility than some peoplo.'seem.to think.

The . agreement entered into between, the British Government and the Bank of England under which 'the latter is guaranteed against loss arising through discounting foreign Dills.of exchange issued'- prior ,to August 4, : will greatly facilitate in terohange and commerce. The bank has taken prompt action; to. comply with the letter and spirit of the agreement, and offers' to discount such bills.,of exchange as may be approved or as / are oustomarily approved by the bank, and the acceptors of bills if unable to meet their engagements on duo date may postpone payment by paying interest at: 2 per centr above rate, that is, 7 per cent; the bank rate at present being 5 per cent. -Under this scheme all first-class, credits are restored, and business can'be carried on comfortably. The holder of a bill of exchange may hold the bill till maturity and .make or save fie amount of tho discount, but if he is wanting ready cash he must discount the bill..' Since, the outbreak of war there has been difficulty in discounting even the finest of the bills of exchange, and euch .a condition of affairs necessarily means dislocation of trade', which at best fas based on credit and good faith; This new and excellent move on the part of the British Government must stimulate trade, or at least ,'put an end to the deadlock, Taken with tho scheme arranged by the .Canadian Government to act'as trustee for the Bank of England for the acceptance of deposits of gold, the encouragement to trade and commerce us substantial. Everyone is anxious to promote trade, and to see -it continue at the lovel that existed prior to the war._ The conditions are such as to instil eonfjdence in traders and producers everywhere.