PROGRRES OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2355, 11 January 1915, Page 4

PROGRRES OF THE WAR

The comparative lull which liiih obtained recently hi tho Western theatre* of will' hmi jovmi pliictt to intense activity, particukrly in I,lm Aisne Valley. Heavy IMiliiit); litui occurred on portion)) of tin* thirty-five-mile front from HuimmnH lo lieims, and east of lieiniit im Ihe forty-mile front from that city In tlw Ai'H'onno. The Allies claim that llioy liavo progressed on tho entire front between Reims and tho Argonno, and the operations generally appear to havo gone decidedly in their favour and to havo resulted in some important gains. North of Soissonti 11 redoubt on Soupri Hill was brilliantly captured, together with three lines of German trenches, the total extent of ground .gained beinc about aoven

hundred yards. South of Laon, which stands twenty miles north-east of Soissonß, the Allied artillery silenced the German guns, and the , village of Perthes was capturcd by 'direct attack, the Allies advancing at this point a distance of about 600 yards. Other artillery successes are reported, both in Belgium (south of Ypres) and in France. Amiens is mentioned as one- of the places at which the Allied artillery proved itself superior, but doubtless the fighting in this case occurred at a considerable distance east of Amiens, for some weeks ago the Allies were holding ground in tho Peronne district, some thirty miles east of Amiens.

The general position, so far as the fighting in France is concerned, seems to be that the Allies have conducted a vigorous offensive at many points on their line and everywhere with succosb, 'at worst retaining their original' positions, and in some cases effecting an appreciable advance. Vigorous oounter-attacks launched by the Germans failed of their intended effect, and it is recorded that the Kaiser's troops revenged themselves for their discomfiture north of Soissons by bombarding that town and setting the Law Courts on fire. In the Argonne and elsewhere the Allies sustained violent German attacks, and apparently 'in some cases temporarily lost ground, but only to regain it later. The results ox the operations, so far as they are are distinctly encouraging, for it is clear that in the heaviest fighting that has occurred on the Western line for some time past the Germans have had decidedly the worst of it.

The Germans claim that at one point they lured a French force into a trench, which had been mined and vacated, and so destroyed it. There is no reason to disbelieve the story, for probably many such incidents occur along the extended battle-line, and in any case the ultimate effect would be a loss of ground to the Germans instead of any permanent gain. Had they been holding their ground comfortably they would certainly have preferred to hold their trench instead of blowing it up.

Alsace, also, has been the scene of vigorous fighting, and one German success is chronicled. .They have captured Burnhaupt; a town six and a half miles south land a little west of Cernay (Sennheim) and'five miles from the French frontier. The Allies admit the capture, but state that the Germans suffered heavy loss in effecting it. In any case the loss of Burnhaupt seems to have been only on incident in an extended series of operations between Thann and Altkirch, in whioh the Allies state that they effected important progress. Thesie two places are fifteen miles apart, Altkirch being fifteen miles south-east of Thann and Burnhaupt is about midway between. Tho French retain the positions which they recently' gained west of Cernay.

Apart from mention of fierce .fighting on the Lower Vistula, in which the Russians temporarily lost some trenches, but ultimately recaptured them, there is little news to-day of the campaign in Poland. One correspondent gives a general description of the fighting from "the Rawka to Oracow." The actual reference is probably to the fighting in Central Poland, west and south-west of Warsaw. The correspondent's story shows that the Germans pushed the attack with splendid vigour and de-, termination by day and night, but that the only resulte so far have been an enormous volume of losses and an entire failure to accomplish their plans of an advance on Warsaw. He declares that in one night's abortive fighting the Germans lost 30,000 killed and three times 'as many wounded. Even the Germans, with their utter disregard of human life, cannot afford to go on throwing away, men at that rate, and the fact that the Russians are preparing to augment their forces next month by oyer half a- millioji men will doubtless still further emphasise the necessity of adopting a less extravagant policy.

Only meagre news regarding the Russian invasion of Hungary if available to-day. What information is available crystallises into the statement that the Russians have occupied Kimpolung, a town in the Carpathians, at the southern oxtremity of Bukowina, and one mile distant from the frontier of Transylvania (the north-eastern provinoj of Hungary). Kimpolung was occupied on January 6 and the Russians report that in the oontinual fighting in Bukowina last week they effected large captures of Austrians and "much booty." The passes through the Eastern Carpathians, south of Bukowina, are stated to be easy of passage so that the Russiat.s are doubtless in a fair way to enter the Hungarian Plains. It is not at all unlikely, however, that fighting in the passes may continue for some little time.

It is a little difficult to know whatto believe about the projected, but long-delayed, Turkish invasion of Egypt. Until to-day the Turkish forccs in Syria have been pictured as an ill-organised and ill-provided horde, filled with the spirit of revolt against their officers and especially against the Germans who have assumed control of Turkish military affairs. Now we are told that General von Falkenberg, the German officer commanding the Army to' march against Egypt, has arrived at Damascus, and that the Turkish forces have been considerably stiffened with Germans, no fewer than twelve thousand Germany being included in one corps. This certainly suggests ordered preparation, but tlm. mossago will have to bo confirmed before much impcitance can, be attached to it. In any event there should be no cause for uneasiness. Britain has a strong body of troops in Egypt (including the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) which would probably be well anlo to repel an invasion. The Turks would be faced by tremendous difficulties from the inception of their enterprise. The passage of the Syrian desert must in itself prove a toilsome and difficult undertaking, and even assuming that they wore not met and fought in the Sinai Peninsula,, the Turks would have a l)nor prospect of crossing the Suez Canal.

At one time the Turks entertained llattering hopes of can Egyptian rebellion in their favour, but present indications are that the country is in a state of settled peace so far as the native population is concerned, and the same satisfactory conditions are reported to exist in the Sudan. The ex-Khedive declares himself certain that when a Turkish Army enters Egypt the Egyptians will join it, but rcccnl. events have demonstrated that the ex-Khedive is an

unreliable authority in many things and ,most of all in the realm of Egyptian affairs. It _is enough, meantime,, that a Turkish Army is not likely to enter Egypt and that all available evidence suggests that the Egyptian population is unshaken in its loyalty to Great Britain as the suzerain Power.

Britain's interim reply to the American Note on neutral trading has reached its destination and it is described as being couched in frank and friendly »terms. Apparently, however, it leaves some questions open. The American State Department regards it as inconclusive, and President Wilson and Mn. Bryan are conferring with the object of making further representations to Britain upon several unsettled points, notably shortening the time for which ships, ere detained for search. It is rather unlikely that Britain will be able to afford the United States complete satisfaction on _this i particular point, for the examination of suspected cargoes is doubtless conducted at present with all possible _ expedition. Settlement of the question depends largely upon the American Government undertaking responsibility for the correctness of manifests as it was recently reported that it intended to do. While some American ships continue to carry dishonest manifests and to. conceal contraband in cargoes of innocent appearance (as they have done in a number of instances), Britain in self-protection iB bound to insist upon exercising the right 'of 6earch to the fullest possible extent. Initiative in the matter obviously rests with the United States rather than with Great Britain, but the difficulty is, and will be, that a percentage of American shippers will probaoly bo just as ready to deoeive their own Government, if they can, as they have been to deceive the agents of the British Government.

The discussion _ in the House _of Lords on the subject of conscription makes it evident that a section' of the public in Great Britain is not quite at ease in regard to the progress of recruiting, but), it has not yet been shown that so drastic a departure as the adoption of 'conscription, is cither necessary or desirable. The'suggestion advanced by Lord Curzon that the Government should make such preliminary arrangements as would facilitate the adoption of conscription should it ultimately prove necessary is, however, well worth considering, jihougb Lobd Kitchener's statement that as many men are coming forward as can be dealt with suggests that he does not regard the voluntary system as a failure, and Lord Haldane has Etafed that there is no reason to anticipate a breakdown of that system.

The London Timet strikes the keynote of the position in urging the Imperial Government Bo frankly disclose the position in regard to recruiting. It is certainly-not a satisfactory state of affairs, that the military authorities should limit themselves to _ general statements that "the recruiting is going very well." Such statements may be justified by tile 'facts of the position, but .they' must necessarily have a tendency to lull the public into a sense of security, and one oertainty not calculated to stimulate it to.the pitch of service and sacrifice which the emergency demands. While this policy of reserve i® followed, it is hardly reasonable to suggest conscription. The adoption- of that system should bo considered only if the manhoodrof the nation, in full view of the emergency, fails to make an adequate response to the appeal for recruits. Such a position _is not likely to arise in Great Britain, and it would.be even less likely'to arise if the detail facts concerning the progress of recruiting were unreservedly made known. • * * * * The report from Berlin which asserts that the Cardinal Mercier incident has been peacefully settled undoubtedly represents an aspiration rather, than a fact, and an aspiration which is not likely to be gratified. The storm of indignation aroused in many parts of the civilised world by the arrest of the Cardinal is evidently making the Kaiser and his advisers anxious. They have gone so far as to deny that the arrest was made, but the denial will not oarry much weight for, apart from the direct evidence of the arrest that has been furnished, it is not likely that the Pope would have made an official protest to the German Government on the. subject if he had not been fully satisfied as to the facts. To-day it is reported on the authority of the Dutch newspaper Tjid that the contradiction of Cardinal Mercier's arrest is untrue. The Kaiser is supplementing his denial with assurances to the Pope that the German authorities merely addressed a "deferential request" to the Cardinal to cease his anti-German propaganda. As Mr. T. P. O'Connor has justly said, tho arrest of the Cardinal was one of those clumsy and brutal acts of German policy which recoil on their own heads. The attempted suppression of an honest and outspoken prelate is an outrage no worse than a .host of others which the Germans have committed, but it has focused tho attention of a great body of public opinion, at Home and abroad, which even the autocratic Kaiser cannot _ afford to ignore. Hence his'undignified efforts to evade responsibility. *** * : >

The Ho'deida incident, which occurred some weeks ago, and opened up the possibility of a rupture between Italy and Turkey, has not yet been settled.' The original circumstances wore that the^. British Consul at Hodeida, an Arabian port on the fled Sea, was seized by the Turks in the Italian Consulate, where he had taken refuge. Faced by an Italian demand for an apology and the release of the'consul, the Porte has temporised ever since, but it, is now reported .that Italy has set January 10 (yesterday) as the final day'for a Turkish • apology and punishment for tho violators of the Italian flag. Interesting developments should therefore follow almost immediately.