NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2249, 8 September 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

It is , something to know on the authority of the Press Bureau that for a week there has been "ho hew main trial of . strength" be-, tween the Allies and., the German forces in France. It is satisfactory, too, to learn that the Allies' position has been well maintained. But the censor is very successful in puzzling us as to the stage reached In the advance on Paris, and also ■as to the actual positions takeil up by the opposing" forces. . Piecing together the news to hand it seems fairly clear ihat the Allies have succeeded in forcing the Germans to relinquish their.idea of a direct march on Paris., The attempt to envelop the Allies! left in the northern districts 6'f France-failed,,as did,' also, the attempt to break through their centre. Foiled in these directions; and finding that in their orderly retirement the Allies had taken up a strong position with Paris as. their pivot the Germans, instead of continuing tho advance on the French capital from the north-east, swung round to .the south-edst. ' A portion of their forces appear to have proceeded in a south-easterly direction between Paris and the lino of fortresses; La Fere-Laon-Reims; while the remainder has mioved south oh the eastern side of ( the fortresses mentioned. Thetir' line now runs from about La Fertc-soiis-Jouarre, some 35 -.miles to the east of Pans; to yiile-siii'rTourbe, 75 miles in a north-easteriy_ direction towards the Bran'co-Belgian -frontier. In other words, their armies extehd across France from west to east; a distance of 75 miles'; along a line starting at La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, passing through Chateau. Thierry, and Suippes to Villc-sur-Tdui'be. This line follows for some distance, (about 45 miles) the ndrth : em bank of,the River .Harhe..,. It is south of this,river that the British troops are stated to be now stationed, i

A good deal has been-made of the fact that the German- troops appear to be moving in a. direction that will carry them past and beyond Paris. It' has been suggested that their purpose is to open the road to Paris for their southern army',- whibh is supposed to have been striving to force a passage by way of the Verdun region., . This may be the caso; the probabilities, are, .however,, that the tactics pursued . by the Allies have once more upset German plans. By avoiding a decisive action; and at the same time hindering the German advance bf continuous fighting, the Allies have gained valuable time, and enabled Paris .to be placed in a condition of complete defence. Moreover, the position of the Allied forces at the' moment is such thatany attempt the Germans might make to take Paris by assault would 'almost certainly be doomed to failure* The Germans cannot sit down to besiege the French capital —for ofle thing, they cannot afford the time, and for another it_ would be. a dangerous, procedure with- the Allies' army unbroken. If it would be too costly and dangerous in existing „ circumstances to attempt to take Paris' by assault, and too great a sacrifice of time, to set up a siege, the only alternative left to tno .Kaiser is' to move on or move back. It is necessary,that ho should,move on; and in doing so his Generals will ibe inspired by a twofold purposefirst to force the Allies into a posi-tion-which will compel them to' fight a decisive" battle at the earliest possible moment; ie.ebrid, to spread devastation and ruin over as wide an area of French territory as possible. The purpose Of the Allies .for the time. being is to frustrate the efforts of the Germans in both directions. Later, when the moment is opportune, there willbo a battle as decisive as it is possible to make a battle nowadays, ;biit the Allies will endeavour to choose .their own time, and the Russians are not yet far enough advanced to make the present moment opportune. No doubt there is a great deal of manoeuvring going on just now to secure ah opening to strike, and the advanced parties of the opposing armies . probably are constantly in conflict. We are told this morning, for, instance, of an engagement wnioh took place on Saturday last, in wtiioh the Germans suffered a reverse, but these engagements, though costly enough, are but incidents in the great struggle. ■ ■ . . . '

'■•., Briefly put, the situation in Franco shows little change. The Germans have abandoned their old line of advance for a hew one further south, and are manoeuvring to place the Allies in a position which will necessitate a decisive battle. It would sCem that, the Allies have been strengthened iti numbers, and so have'been able to prevent the enveloping movements which find such favour with the Germans. This may lead to the Germans throwing tl.eir whole weight on the Allies' centre, which, if successful, would open the way to an attack on Paris. Another stirring story comes from gallant little Belgium. The might of the great armies of Germany has not discouraged the stout-hearted Belgians, nor have the brutalities and ruthless methods of the invaders succeeded in them in their determination to tight to the bitter end for redress of their wrongs. The dcfciit of the German forces >.t Tormondc, lecorded to-day;, is an inspiring evidence of the magnificent courage and undaunted bravery with which the Belgians have faced tho terrible misfortunes which have been so wantonly thrust on them by their ruthless neighbour. They have met the enemy, at ovor.v. jioiut with.

a desperate valour which, has. astonished the whole world; yielding'only to the pressure of huge numbers,' and .striking back, at every' opportunity. Driven north to Antwerp by the numerical superiority of the enemy, at the first sign of slackening pressure they again moved southward, harassing the Germans. Now, after several minor engagements, they appear to have succeeded in inflicting a. quite severe loss.on tho. Germans at Termonde, and thus added another to their splondid list of achivements in the great struggle.

Russia still .presses on. She is now stated to be invading Germany at three points, but there is little definite news of her more recent operations. Probably her. huge successes in Austria, have for the time being overshadowed the movements further north. ' With the release of the- troops from the Austrian campaign for service in Germany we expect to hear of greater activity in the march towards Berlin.

The national characteristics which inspired Napoleon to describe the British as a nation of shopkeepers have by no means faded..out with tho passage of years. Although it has so far bowed to the spirit of the times as to maintain a small but .excellent professional army in addition to the greatest Navy in the world, the British nation is still entitled to claim that it turns more reluctantly than any other from its peaceful affairs to thoughts of war, though the reluctance disappears quickly enough when the call to battle is sounded. The spirit of the nation was made plainly evident in the. days immediately before the present war-cloud. burst over Europe. While' other hatibhs were in a storm of agitation, and excitement which must in itself have been a great factor making for war, the British people preserved their 'calm, and looked hopefully- to the preservation of peaco. Oh the Continent of Europe war-fever reigned, supreme, but in England some .of the newspapers, no' doubt. reflecting public opinion, were, placidly speculating about what the condition .pi the French army might be expected to bo in 19'20. Even ,in service journals the same spirit was reflected. For instance, the Military Mail, , a weekly organ of the Regular and.Territorial Forces and the National Reserve; in its issue of the last week in July, contains no hint of inevitable war. Its attention apparently was taken up with such matters its overwork at; the War Office; peace-time- recruiting; Territorial training, and affairs incidental, to the "trooping season," when reliefs are sent away to India and other garrisons abroad. .The whole publication is redolent of the piping times of peace. Even when the war-menace.could no longer be ignored,- the demeanour of the nation was an object-lesson ' in selfpossession. "It is extraordinary," wrote one London correspondent, at the end of July, with, what, courageous calm the dread developments in Europe have been received in this country. In every part of other nations the . populace have been shouting and 'singing themselves into patriotid fever. In Great Britain every man and woman has gbno about his or her daily duties as .if. the world was hot being turned upside down."- Foreign critics, may find in. this calm approach' .to x a great national emergency evidence of more foolish biindness_ and incapacity to rise-to. the occasion, Sonic of them may find in.it fresh food for their burning suspicions of "perfidious Albion." Those who know the British people better will probably find in it nothing t m6re than the natural expression of a nation ever reluctant to spend its energies, in war -or in preparing for war, but not oh that account .a less efficient belligerent when the time for actual fighting comes.

Although • thd'..Peclefal.• elections must .have operated to soine extent as a distraction in Australia, during, the last week or two, the, contents of tho newspaper files which arrived by yesterday's mail make it very clear that there has been ho break in' the busy preparations to seiicl- away an Expeditionary Force ahct to follow this up by dispatching further contingents if tho occasion should demand it. There are abundant indications that the Australians, as a nation, are stirred to the heart by the Imperial call. This is demonstrated not alone in the ready response to the call for volunteers for. the front', and the equal readiness, which all sections of the community have shown to assist the Government in ' the _ arduous duty of organising and equipping tie Force, but in the suggestions which are being put forward for preparations upon a much more extended scale in view of possible -future eventuali-' ties. Some of these.sriggestionssaro just a3 much applicable to. New Zealand as they are, ,to Australia, and/deserve to bo .noted.' One proposal put forward by a correspondent in a Melbourne newspaper Isthat the Commonwealth Defence Department should scatter a few competent instructors in drill and military duties among the outback districts, which have been somewhat neglected in the ordinary administration of the Defence Act owing to lack of means of communication. The author of the proposal rightly points out that men who live and' work on the outskirts'of settlement and know by experience something of the rough side of life are splendid material from, the military point of view. Other suggestions advanced are that facilities should be extended to men,,'and especially to single men, in all parts of the country, who are at present oiitsido the scope of the Defence Act, to acquire a degree of military training which might make them available as recruits in the. event .of another Expeditionary Force, or reinforcements, being required. There has also been discussion in Australia in regard to the age of recruits accepted for the Expeditionary Force, and some exception has been taken to tho decision . of the Australian military authorities to fix the maximum age for volunteers at 35 years. It is admitted, even by those who consider that N youths preponderate unduly in the ranks of the Australian Contingent, that youth in military affairs is associated with dash and boldness; but on the other hand it is contended that every force on active service also requires a leavening of steadiness and' calmness more often associated with tho older solAdvocates' of this view.(which has its ohampions in New Zealand as well ns in Australia) contend that there are many excellent ride shots and trained men in the region of forty years of age who would greatly stiffen up the colonial troops, There is no reason to doubt that New Zealand, after dispatching its Expeditionary Force, will face the duty of rendering, such fur-

ther _ assistance as the Empire may require, iii .the same spirit of caltii thorbughriess is appears to prevail in Australia; ;,and it should bo well worth the while of the Government and the military authorities, to .'consider whether the basis of future enlistment . might not be advantageously bi'baidoned by.bhe.br more of the methods here suggested.,