PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2438, 17 April 1915, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Messages to-day disclose a considerable stir - of activity along the Western front. Victories have been gained by the_ Allies in local actions at various points, and the Germans seem nowhere to hate made any better reply than an ineffective bombardment of the position gained by tho French a few days ago in their great victory at Les Eparpes, southeast of Verdun. The principal battle reported to-day resulted in the capture of German positions at Notre Dame de Lorette, south of Lille and about midway between that fortress and Arras. Here, as elsewhere, the Allies seem now to have gained a commanding position, so paving the way for their further advance. In the Argorine, also, just short of the ppint at which the battle-line in' France turns south round Verdun, the Allies are pressing forward. They have improved their position further south, towards the border of Lorraine and in the Vosges, facing Northern Alsace, where a lieavy German' concentration in preparation for an offensive was recently reported, they have captured nearly a mile of trenches. In this region, however, the Allies are still fighting in tho mountains, whereas in Southern Alsace t-hcy have passed the range and are established on tho edge of the plain. ' ***** An unconfirmed report that a Zeppelin has wrecked a British naval station at the Shetland Isles will receive more attention than would otherwise have been paid to it on account of the recent rumours of unwonted naval activity in tho North fclca. A uava l station at tho Shct-J

land Islands would hardly be more than a supply depot, and even a damaging attack on such a depot would not necessarily be a very serious matter, but if a Zeppelin or Zeppelius have accomplished so much the occasion marks a notable departure from an otherwise undistinguished record of furtive raids and studied avoidance of tho risks of war. Meantime, the only delinito news about the big airships from which tho Germans hoped so much shows _ that some of them are still prowling during the hours of darkness along the east coast of England. In this region, up to the present, they soem to have hardly effected as much damage as would balance the cost of keeping them in commission. Bomb-dropping is reported to-day at places in Suffolk and Essex, seventy miles apart, with what result tho messages so far received do not say.

As reported, Germany's latest exploits against Holland arc really remarkable, and calculated to excite wonder in spite of all that she has done in violation of international law. A Dutch steamer conveying a cargo of grain from America, to Rolland has been torpedoed almost within sight of her home port. The cargo was consigned to the Dutch Government, so that there can be no question ,as to tho piratical attack on neutral commerce. It. is not yet established that the submarine which made the attack was of German nationality, but few doubts can be entertained upon the point. German submarines occupy a lonely, though' not honourable, isolation where piratical attacks on peaceful traders are concerned. No doubt at all exists_ in regard to the second outrage in Holland, which is reported to-day, German submarines, it is definitely stated, took four Dutch trawlers to Zeebrugge, the little port on the Belgian coast, in German occupation, which has on a number of occasions been bombarded by British warships and aviators. The Dutch are thus face to face with the fact that Germany has deliberately made them the victims of piratical attack. Even setting aside the torpedoing of the steamer Katwijk, as she lay. at anchor off the coast of Scuth Holland, the seizure of the four trawlers admits of only one explanation —that it was an act of wanton hostility. Even the stolid forbearance of the Dutch might be expected to break down under brutal provocation of this kind, but it is possible that their Government may still prefer to seek explanations and. reparation rather than a remedy in war. The seizure of the trawlers is stated to have caused a sensation in Holland, but_ somewhat similar things were said when the sinking of the Medea was announced, and proceedings anent that outrage have been tamely shelved pending an appeal to arbitration.

It seems impossible to form any other conclusion on the facts than that Germany is bent on goading Holland into war, but it is difficult to assign an adequate reason for such a policy. By going to war with the Dutch, Germany might hope to promote and extend her entirely subsidiary submarine campaign by gaining a passage from Antwerp to the sea by way of the Scheldt, and possession of some of the ports on the coast of .Holland, but these benefits would be gained at enormous cost if they were gained at all, and it is extremely ■ doubtful if Germany could spare the forces that would be required to penetrate the enormously strong defences upon which the Dutch rely. These defences are based upon a system of inundation. In the first instance the rich western provinces of Holland, with their important seaports, can be cut off from the remaining area of the country by a wide girdle of water'extending south from the Zuider Zee to the estuaries of the Maas and the Scheldt. At need the area of inundation can I bo extended almost indefinitely 'by letting in the sea. It is exceedingly improbable, however, that the Dutch in the event of .war with Germany would find it_ necessary to content themselves with a defensive campaign. On the contrary, Holland in that case would become a gateway and a key-position, no less important to the Western Allies than Belgium was to Germany in her opening offensive of the war.

* *. * Advancing through Belgium, the Allies must burst through line after line of strong defences, the same is true of an advance through Lorraine to the Rhine, and each section of the Western frontier of Germany now open to attack presents its serious problems. The German frontier of the Lower Rhine, marching with that of Holland, on the other hand, is unfortified and weak, and if the Western Allies were fiee to mass an army of invasion in Holland, the whole aspect of the' Western campaign would be transformed. For the Allies it would mean a relatively easy entrance into Germany—an entrance that would bring them within striking distance of the German naval bases on the North Sea and the Kiol Ca'nal. Much depends, therefore, upon Holland's ultimate decision under tho insane provocation to which she is being subjected by Germany, and if she turns upon the aggressor she is likely to do it in powerful company and with staggering effect.