NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2247, 5 September 1914, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR

' Without peace or truce, without cessation or faltering, the sacred struggle* for the honour of tlie nation and reparation o£ violated rights nvust continue.

In ths stirring words set out above President Poincahe, on the evo of the removal of the Government from Paris to Bordeaux, proclaimed the unalterable determination of Franco-] to maintain to the bitter end the struggle against the invading forces of Germany. The precautionary measure of removing the seat of Government from Paris was indicated by yesterday's messages. The Kaiser's forces have gradually forced the retirement of the Allies, and are now very near fco Paris. The price paid for this advance must have been terrible. Scores of thousands of the finest troops the German Empire possessed have fallen on the road under the splendid resistance offered by the smaller forces of the Allies. Death has reaped such a, harvest as has never before, been witnessed in tho history of the world's, wars. The position now reached is by no means clear. If, as appears to be the case, the Allies' lines have been merely, driven back, and not broken through, the German advance has failed in one of its main objects. It has reached almost to within striking distance of Paris, but it has-not scored a decisive suoeess against the army which has demanded so heavy a toll for tho passage across France. So long as.the Allies' Army is intact" the German forces cannot settle down to the siege of Paris save under great difficulties. It may be that the desperate expedient of attempting to carry the city by storm will be tried. We already have seen the enormous sacrifices of lifo the Germans aro prepared to make in order to achieve their purpose; and an assault in force may be ordered.. There is little likelihood of such an attack being .successful; With the aid of the heavy, siege guns which the Germans are said to possess, the Paris forts might eventually he silenced, but that means time, and the Kaiser cannot afford to, keep the whole of his great army in France with the Russians invading Eastern Germany, and each day drawing-nearer to Berlin.

Taking the position in France as a whole the Germans can claim that they have made material progress, but thoy have failed to strike the decisive blow at the allied forces necessary to ensure the fulfilment of their plans. It is impossible to sUy how far the Allies have succeeded in their .. purpose of delaying \ the German ,advanoe—whether tho checks and delays have been as complete as expected—but Paris has been given timo in which, to prepare herself for the coming struggle, and that means a gre-at deal. When,, the history of the war comes to bo'written it may be found that the Allies , ' strategical scheme involved the retirement carried out so splendidly in tho faco of great odds, and that it was a prearranged and necessary part of tho plan of campaign .decided on. One thing is quite plain, and that is that the real struggle is only just beginning. No vital blow has been struck —even the fall of Paris would ■ be merely an incident in this great war.

Turning to the actual fighting this seems to have been bitterly sustained. Amiens, which is an unfortified town some 80 miles to- the north of Paris, .fell into the enemy's hands on Tuesday,- and the advance was. then continued apparently to within about 30 miles of Paris, when a check occurred and tho Germans were forced to fall back on Creil, some 35 to 40 miles.distant from the capital. The statement that French troop 3 are pouring into Paris would seem to indicate that the Allies anticipate having to defend the city against assault, and that at an early date. Tho London Times tells us that Germany's plans embrace a raid on England, and that she will attempt to carry this out from ports in Belgium and Northern France, while creating a diversion with her naval forces, which will occupy the British Fleet. This docs not sound.very convincing. ' In the first place she has no transports; in the second there are plenty of British sraajl craft capable oi destroying any transports which mighb be obtained; in tho third place nothing would be more welcome to Britain than the emergence of the main naval fleet from its hiding-place in the Kiel Canal. Germany has to beat the British Fleet before she can think of raiding Britain, and even then her troubles would only be beginning. The fact that the London Times is taking up the role of alarmist points to two things: (1) that the people of Britain have not yet fully realised the magnitudeof the issues at stake and need arousing; (2) that recruiting in England requires a further stimulus.

Cheering tidings come to hand from the Eastern theatre of war. The Russians have followed up their crushing defeat of the great Austrian Army in Galicia with a thoroughness that has crowned their efforts with complete success.' Lemberg, tho capital city of the great province of Galjcia, has fallen, and is now occupied by the Russian forces. This is indeed a convincing evidence of the successes of the Russian Army invading Austria. Accompanying this gratifying item of news/comes the information that during the past seven days' fighting the Tsar's forces in Galicia have captured 200 guns and 70,000 prisoners. Yesterday we were told of the tremendous number of Austrian killed and wounded in these engagements; now wo have added to these losses 70,000 prisoners. Further north in East Prussia the advance temporarily checked by an unexpected aggressive movement by the Germans has been renewed. Tho Russians may not move as swiftly as the Germans, but they are most thorough and they strike hard. The increasing stream of German fugitives from the East towards the capital bears testimony to the progress made by tho Tsar's forces.

Tho matron of tlio Hospital desires to acknowledge tho following gifts:—Flowors and 'swcots, Wellington Girls' College ; lamp shade, Mrs. Masters; hooks, Messrs. Whitcombo and Tombs, Messrs. Jvirkcaldie and Stains; illustrated papers and magazines, Mr. Earnshaiv (Island Bay), Mrs. Hubbard, Mr. IS. Tanner; flowers, Mrs. 0. M. Luke, Mrs. S.ydnoy Kirkcaldie, Miss Coiipland (Lower Hutt), Hopolands School (Hiiwlte's Bay), Mrs. Press (Constable Street), Mw, Hills (Dauiel Street).