HEAVY MASSED ATTACK REPULSED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2387, 17 February 1915, Page 5

HEAVY MASSED ATTACK REPULSED

GRIM WORK I THE TRENCHES ALLIES' WAR BILL STATEMENT BY BRITISH CHANCELLOR STAGGERING FIGURES BLOCKADE OR BLIJFF? The British Chancellor of the, Exchequer, Mr. Lloyd George, has made a statement —awaited with profound interest—on the cost of the war to Britain and' her Allies. His figures are staggering, but ho brings evidence to show that the situation is well gripped by the. Finance Departments pf the Entente Powers, and that money will be spent unsparingly in order to further a complete and decisive termination of the war. The First Lord of the British Admiralty, Mr. Winston Churchill, has also given an account of his stewardship, and his statement is a splendid tribute to the fighting efficiency of the Navy, and its unchallenged position on the seas, while his reference to the acceleration of new construction and the measures taken to man • the new ships which are to reinforce the fighting line at sea make reassuring reading. The threatened blockade by Germany still bulks large in the news from Europe, and the Germans are very angry that the outside public should suspect them of bluffing. There are signs that the authors of the piratical scheme to make indiscriminate war on all merchant shipping would be glad to hedge on the proposition. From the Western theatre comes a stirring account of a fierce fight between the British and a German column at Guinchy (north of.La. Bassee), where the enemy's column, hurled at the British in mass, .was literally cut to pieces. Events march slowly in the Eastern theatre, but to-day's news is in favour of the Russian operations right ' along the line.