NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2266, 28 September 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

It might be said of to-day's news from France that it is much the same as that of the day before and the day before that.' The fighting continues all along the line. Many heroic deeds no doubt are being placed on record, occasional glimpses of' which we are permitted to see; but the censor allows little-light to be thrown on the main issues of the struggle. All that we really know of them is that we continue to progress in that great movement on the Allies' Left directed at the enemy's. Right Wing, and that elsewhere th«re is little change. With that we should be content, for if that movement on the : Left is maintained then , something must _ give way; and the only thing to give is the German line. Another hint of the desperate fighting at the fortress of Maubeuge, about which we have heard so little, is. supplied to-day. It is brief and to the point. There were 40,000 German casualties; probably double the garrison of Maubeuge. An ugly fact in connection with this siege is the news that concrete foundations allegedly put in some years ago, ostensibly tor the erection of buildings, were utilised to support the great German siege guns used against, the, fortress. Plainly the suggestion is that the foundations were put in by Germans in anticipation of using them in this manner, for they are stated to have been built in carefully-selected spots, no doubt commanding the fortress. German preparations, plainly provided for many contingencies.

It is worth noting that German efforts with both Italy and Rumania are being persisted with, though there is little likelihood of their meeting with any success. In Rumania it was to be expected that the -Kino, who is a Holicnzollern, would wish to aid the Austro-Gorman Alliance. All his instincts would naturally lead him in that direction, but if it is true that ho had already, sold his country by committing it without its knowledge to a treaty binding it to support Austro-Ger-many, then his reported relinquishment of the Crown,.of_ which we had news some time ago, is not difficult to understand. Probably the treaty mu; liin lust curt] ill the jjiimo ho bar, .been playing to cause Rumania to.

break her neutrality, and it has failed to serve his purpose. In Italy, it is stated, only the Oloricals and the Socialists oppose the- demand of the people that she shall throw in her lot with the Triple Entente. The cardinals apparently are Germany's hope, though why they should be after what nas happened in Belgium and France it is hard to understand. ■ What . sympathy can the Church have with the barbarians who destroyed the Cathedral at Reims; w,ho desecrated the churches and shot priets _ in the performance of their holy offices? Italy may continue neutral— that is the most that Germany can, hope of her—but the force of public opinion may at any_ moment range her side by side with the Triple Entente in the fight against the outrage on civilisation perpetrated by the Austro-Gerroan combination.

The Admiralty explanation, which gives full details of the loss of the three cruisers. Aboukir, .Hogue, and Cressy, clears the. .air a good deal regarding the effectiveness of the submarine. As wo. suspected, it was not so much the deadfincss of the submarine as the error of judgment on the part of the commanding officers of the Hogue and Cressy in standing by the vessel first struck that enabled the .submarines to torpedo them as well as the first victim. Tho humanitarian desire to save as many as possible of the Aboukir's crew led to the useless sacrifice of two more ships and many more lives. The lesson is a costly one in the matter of lives lost, but it might have been still more dearly paid for. The point of chief interest, however, is the fact now disclosed that the submarines had everything made as easy as possible for them through the humanitarian instincts of the British commanders obscuring their judgmont. The loss of an odd boat might happen at any time, and tho submarine which succeeded in sinking her would not prove anything moro than the already recognised fact that submarines under given conditions can sink a warship. But when three warships are sunk in the rapid fashion recorded off the Holland coast, tho submarine begins to assume quito terrible proportions until the full circumstances become known. _ Now that we know these full circumstances, the submarine is back in its old place —a real '.menace to careless and low-speed vessels in _ narrow waters or near tho coast line—but by no means so formidable to f:lst vessels, well off-shore. and keenly alert to the danger of a torpedo attack. ■

The Australian Military Expeditionary Force is to be congratulated on the success which has attended its operations in Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, better known as German New Guinea. This force left Australia some time ago, but was detained at some . unknown port, presumably awaiting the' operations of the Australian Fleet at New Britain. Messages from time to time have been published in the Sydney Sun from its special correspondent with , the force, but no i'ndioation was given in these of its whereabouts or its destination. Now we know, and it isiwhat was generally expected. The capture of Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, following on tho capture of the islands of the Bismarck-Archipelago, is not only a b'low to Germany, but removes what has been regarded for many years as a very real menace to Australia. These islands are uncomfortably near to the mainland of 'Australia, and they are much safer in the hands of Britain than in those of. her possible enemies. It is pleasing to learn that the annexation was in this case carried out without loss of life.

With the exception of the LabourSocialist paper, the Daily Herald, which has closed down, the British daily newspapers continue to publish fairly large sheets. All of them have been affected by the shortage of. printing paper, due to the war, but generally speaking they are a. good pennyworth or halfpenny-worth as the case may be. In France the position is different. It is' not merely a shortage of printing paper, but a shortage of workmen. All ablebodied men up to 50 years of age are either at the front or undergoing training, and in consequence the papers are stated to be left to a few' old men to get out. They are about the size of a small pocket-handker-chief. The London Observer's Paris correspondent, describing the / situation, remarks: "That joyous Boulevard organ, 'Gil Bias,' has just shut up shop and gone to the war. It announces the fact in a gay little poster. 'We are a young journal,' it saya, 'and, every one o£ N u3 has besn mobilised. A'bientot!'" This is a fair sample of the' fin© spirit in which the people of France are making their sacrifices for "the great ocoasion."