NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 31 October 1914, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR

An insight into the position of our enemies may be gained at times from piecing' together messages which though unrelated yet when read side by side indicate a trend in some given direction. We have three or four such messages to-day. Thefirst relates to the increasing uneasiness of the German public concerning the general situation. There is a widely prevalent suspicion, particularly! in pommercial circles, that the truth is being withheld regarding the progress of tho operations against the Allies. An earlior message stated that proclamations had been issued at Brussels intimating that Paris being infected with cholera, tho Kaiser had withdrawn his troops to permit them to winter in Berlin and enjoy the repose they have so nobly earned. Wc know of courso that the Kaiser's troops were withdrawn from Paris because tho Anglo-French troops chased them away at the point of tho bayonet. But why this'story about tho German Army spending a wellearned winter repose, at Berlin % Does this foreshadow an early German, retirement from _ Franco • and Belgium, and is this a gentle method of breaking the news to the people of Germany as well as to tho people of Brussels 1 If this is the sort of news that is now being circulated in Germany, then the people might well view with, suspicion the stories of Unvarying German successes with which they appear to havo been so fully regaled.

A third item is the message giving particulars of an extract from an intercepted German Army order relating to a shortage of food supplies, and suggesting deterioration in genoral discipline. This order, dated

October 7, notified the troops that they could no longer rely on regular Biipplies, and must utilise the resources of the country as much as possible. This plainly indicates that the position of the particular section of the German Army referred to was far from satisfactory. Has the news of this also filtered back into Gorman ears in the- Fatherland and added to the prevailing uneasiness? We have heard from time to time of the breakdown of the German commissariat, and it was perhaps inevitable with the _ rapid movement of such huge bodies of troops that there would be danger of such happenings, but the position is desperate indeed when army orders of this nature have to be issued to troops already enduring terrible hardships and dangers. On top of it all comes the news of a steady flow of German deserters into Holland.. These items in themselves may perhaps appear to be of minor importance; and it may seem that they should be to some extent discounted, but most of them come from neutral sources; and, totalled up, they indicate clearly enough that the situation from the German point of view is decidedly discouraging.

When we come to the news of the actual fighting the position in German eyes must be still more depressing. The desperate attempts to check the Allies' advance in Belgium have again failed. Once more the forward movement of the Anglo-French-Belgian forces is making itself felt. The violent attacks ot the German troops we were told yesterday were less vigorous. Wo were told • also of streams of German wounded pouring back from the fighting lines and of the. advance of tho British from tho direction , of Ypres towards Roulers (some 20 miles from the French frontier and a little more from the sea coast). Now we get the news from a Dutch source that the Allies have progressed as well along the sea coast "towards Ostcnd. British warships* including apparently some of the battleships of tho Reserve Fleet, have assisted with great effect al this point, : and as a result the British troops'have advanced to Leffinghe and Raverzyde. This advance is of great importance for Raverzyde is near tho sea coast and only some five miles from Ostend, while Leffinghe is about three miles' inland from Raverzyde and only five or six miles from Ostend. It will there- ■ fore be seen that the force moving eastward on Ostend extends some distance inland from the sea coast and its advance no doubt will compel the retirement of the German forces which are hard pressed' further south. Indeed the Ghent correspondent of the London Telegraph informs us that several hundred motor-cars which were used to bring .provisions' and equipment for the troops fighting in this region are beine detained and held in readiness for the immediate retreat of the German forces. -These are splendid tidings.

An official message from Vienna states that the Austrian forces are engaged in a desperate-battle with tho Russians, whose numbers are vastly superior, southward of Ivangorod. It was northward of this point that the Russians recently defeated the Germans and drove them back for something over 60' miles from the River Vistula. Apparently the Tsar's troops are following up.'th» great sweeping movement begun near Warsaw and extending right through Poland towards -Galicia./ The effect of this operation if successful must be to clear Poland of the Austro-German forces and lead up, to the invasion of German territory by way probably of Galicia and Posen. That the position of the enemy" hero is desperate may be gathered from the fact that Trieste reports go to show that Austria's troops, which have been stationed.- near the Italian frontier, are being sent in hot haste to Galicia and Servia. It would seem that the great mass of the Russian army is now moving in real earnest. It has been a slow business gathering this huge fighting, machine together and ready to move, but having served its purpose in the early stage of the war by the hurried advance which assisted to relieve the pressure on the Allies in the West it was a wise policy to retire and await complete mobilisation and transport arrangements before entering on the. really serious task of invasion. Now the great machine is moving steadily, and it may bo hoped irresistibly, towards its goal— Borlin. iTho Germans are being pressed back East and West, and ere long we may expect to find the ■fields of active conflict wholly transferred to- Austria and Germany. Then the peoples of those countries will realise more fullv than_ they have yet done the terrible affliction which the ambitions of the German War Lord has wantonly thrust upon Europe. ~"

From France the news is scarce, but such of it as thero is continues The pressure is being well maintained; German attacks have been repulsed; and the Allies in several places have gained ground. North, south* cast, and west the news is good. It should give us a comfortable week-end.

The resignation by. Prince Louis of Battenberg of his position as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty is announced in .our cable columns this morning. A message which appeared in Thursday's issue stated that silly stories had been current for several weeks discrediting the Prince's loyalty, and that tho London Globe', after discussing the matter in an apologetic spirit, asked for an authoritative statement to clear away the accusation. The.Prince's resignation is no doubt connected in some 8 way with tho rumours referred to, but so far no explanation appears to have been made public. Apart from tho simple fact that. he has resigned the information available is of such a vaguo and uncertain character that it is impossible to draw any safe conclusions from it.

Prince Louis became a naturalised British subject in 1868 at tho ago of 14, when he entered the Navy as a cadet, from which position ho gradually rose until he was made a BearAdmiral in 1004. He served in the Egyptian War, and has held offices of great trust,-such as that of Director of Naval Intelligence, and Oom-mandcr-in-Chief in the Atlantic, becoming First Sea Lord of tho Admiralty in 1912 Two of his sons are in the Navy, and one of them recently paid' a visit to Wellington as a ■junior officer on the warship New Zealand. In yesterday's issue it was announced that one of his nephews, Prince Maurice of Battenberg, had died from wounds received while fighting for Britain against the Germans. Prince Louis's connection with the British Navy. has been almost lifelong, and he has wc.u for

■I ' himself a high reputation as an auJ thority on all matters concerning the! efficiency and well-being of the Fleet. That any aspersion Bhould bo made, direct or indirect, on his loyalty to Britain, is but another evidence of the growing bitterness of feeling in 1 Britain aeainst all that has any* thing in the nature of German asßol oiations.