PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2460, 13 May 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The unstinted praise given by General Sir lan Hamilton to tho Australians and New Zealanders under his command at the Dardanelles affords cause for deep gratification. Speaking of troops under his command and under bis eye Sin lan Hamilton speaks with an authority to which no one else can pretend, and in effect he commends tho colonial forces as having displayed tho finest qualities of soldiers. In his cablegram to the Minister of Defence he praises- alike tho audacity and dash of'their initial achievement'in forcing a landing, and the steady valour they have since displayed. Acclaimed by the whole Empire and so warmly praised by their General the New Zealanders and Australians have won for. themselves an imperishable reputation. Like the Canadians in Flanders they have done more than win battles, for in years to come, if the war-call should again be sounded, the Dominions will be looked to, not merely for useful auxiliary forces, but for tho finest troops, that the _ Empire ca.i command when there is desperate work to be done.

The Droacl eftcct oi the news from the Western front to-day is that in such a struggle as the war has not previously witnessed the Allies are making good. From the sea to Arras (in Northern France) a -battle of unprecedented fury and volume is in' progress, and while the Allies have gained one position after another in the region between La Bassee and Arras the German a.i>tempts to burst the Allied line in Flanders seem to have everywhere resulted in defeat. Equipped with protective masks which enable them to face the German poison clouds, the British east of Ypres have repulsed ' renewed attacks in that region with terrible slaughter. Apparently the masks which nave been devised furnish protection of the most efficient kind. As the report goes the defending troops were able to wait unharmed in the midst of the poison clouds and then, as the Germans approached' in massed columns, to sweep, them away with a point-blank hail of machine-gun and rifle- fire. Near Nieuport, also, on the coast, the Germans have made furious assaults. They gained at one point a footing in the Allied lines, but only to bo enfiladed from both sides and driven out again.

Meantime the Allied offensive in Northern France is making steady headway though the Germans arc evidently straining every nerve in resisting the onset. They have nevertheless been dislodged from important positions in the area between La Bassee and Arras, fifteen miles to the south . Oarency, which is invested by the Allies on three sides, lies about four miles north of Arras. In this region the French have penetrated to the fourth line of the German entrenohments and_ at other points on the short, but important, front they have captured fortified positions which the Germans have successfully defended for months. There is an absence of news meantime regarding the British attack towards Lille, on a line north and east from La Bassee, but this movement is, of course, directly related to the assault by the French southward of La Bassee. As yet it is only possible to dimly visualise the tremendous battle which has opened, bub there are hints of an enormous concentration of artillery and a death-grapple of the opposing forces in. which both sides are losing heavily. It cannot be doubted that the results of the battle will be of a farreaching character. 1 * # * *

'A dispatch from Sir lan Hamilton, and a French official report, throw some light upon the nature of the fighting at the Dardanelles up to a comparatively recent date. Apparently matters have not yet been carried to a decisive point, for these reports show the Imperial forces still occupying a line across the" Gallipoli Peninsula some six or seven miles inland from Cape Helles. Meantime, the Australians and New Zealanders arc blocking the advance of powerful forces from the inner area of the peninsula. It would appear, therefore, that if the colonial forces have not yet pushed. their assault to the European side of the Dardanelles they at any rate command the practicable roads leading' from the north into that section of the peninsula adjoining the Narrows.

In Western Galicia the Russians are still in retreat. Their official message to-day admits that within the last few days they have been compelled i to retire quickly unde' - pressure in the principal sector of the fighting, north of the Dukla Pass Their continued possession of that gateway ,is thus problematical The Austrians assert that the Russians have also been compelled to retreat from the River Nida, in Southern Poland, but this needs confirmation. Obviously things arc going badly with-the Russians at the moment-, but the development of the Allied offensive in Hie West should soon afford them a measure of relief.

Romk newspapers which recently have Freely predicted that Italy would throw in her lot with the Kntrntz are now telling a very, different story. They state that Siosor Giolitit, an ex-Prime Minister, who is reputed to wield an influence superior to that of tire present Prime Minister (Signoh SaliAXdua), has informed the King or Italy that lie considers the territorial concessions offered Ijy A'lstria satisfactory. Austria, it wins, has offerer! to cede a portion of the Trentino and a- small portion of the Islrian Peninsula, fi. thr head of tijn Adriatic, jiot g.pparcatly including Trieste, 'in adefi-

tion, Italy is offered a free hand in Southern Albania, so far as Austria is concerned. The stofy may have no better foundation than some of the other rumours about Italy which have been so numerous of late, but it is sufficiently plausible to deserve a measure of attention until it is confirmed or denied. .

It is becoming more and more evident that the sinking of tho Lusitania marks an epoch in the history of the German nation which in years to come it will be intensely anxious to forget. Intended as an act of terrorism, it has served instead as a stimulus and inspiration to the forces which, are arrayed against Germany in this war and by throwing' into high relief the true nature of the German character and methods lias made Germany infamous and detestable in the eyes of the world as none of her previous crimes have served to do. Even in tho British Empire this colossal act of murdor, of which men, women, and babies were equally the victims, has served a purpose of enlightenment. Not so very long ago a small but loquacious "Doh't humiliate Germany" party made its voice heard in Great Britain, and it is just barely possible that in other circumstances it might eventually have gained some weight in the counsels of tho nation. Henceforth no more can possibly be heard of such foolishness.

In the British Empire the first fruits of the Lusitania crime have been an appreciable increase in rccruiting,' the immediate expression of a determination to carry through the war to bring Germany to her knees whatever the cost may be. In addition there have been some manifestations of popular feeling in Great Britain, not all in themselves to be commended, but showing how deeply the public mind has been stirred by Germany's latest and most dastardly crime. Even in the full tide of the war enemy aliens have hitherto enjoyed a secure asylum in Great Britain and many of them have been permitted an untrammelled freedom and access to commercial and other privileges which has been frequently, and not without reason, denounced as unwise. Now tho public have to an extent taken tho law into their own hands. Germans and Austrians have been expelled, in some cases by an exercise of physical force, from the Stock Exchange and other corporations, and rather serious rioting has occurred. • In London, city men-r-not as a class given to lawlessness—took part in the attacks on German shops. Outbreaks of this kind must of course be suppressed, but the radical change in popular feeling towards enemy aliens—a, change - from carelessness and indifference to alert hostilityis not to be ignored and evidently in consenting to reconsider the whole alien problem the Imperial Government has yielded to irresistible public pressure. * * * *

An opinion is expressed by the Times correspondent at Washington that the blazing indignation and universal horror excited in America by the sinking of the Lusitania may force the Government into war. Extracts from a speech delivered by President Wilson before a gathering of naturalised Amoricans at Philadelphia make it evident, however, that if the United States goes to war to exact reparation for'the murder of its citizens in the Lusitania it will find it necessary in the first instance to eject President Wilson from- office. At Philadelphia ,Mu. Wilson (as he is reported) calmly ignored the gross aiid indefensible crime of which Germany has been guilty and set himself to expound a transcendental doctrine of peace at auy price, for its own sake. Iu a world of past-oral innocence such, a doctrine would be entirely appropriate, but with German criminality rampant it has little enough bearing upon the strictly practical question with which America is faced. Mr. Wilson has delivered an amazing funeral oration upon his murdered fellow-citizens. He apparently takes the view that so long as peace- is exalted such murders are a secondary Consideration. The attitude of the President may or may not reduce America to impotence in the presentcrisis.. Abroad it can only bo accepted as proof that Mr. Wilson, though a man of parts and not lacking in excellent qualities, is quite unfitted to lead or guide his country in the circumstances created by Germany's criminal aggression. It is as vital to America as to any country in the world that satisfaction should be exacted from Germany for her crimes and outrages upon humanity and that repetition of these crimes and outrages should be made impossible. Leaving her murdered citizens unavenged America will be shirking her plain duty, and no amount of pretty talk by President Wilson or anybody else will hide Or dispose of the fact.

*** * ■ Side by side with the peaceful policy of their President, the American people will be able to set the impudent intimation of Here Dernburg that henccforth American ships carrying contraband will be torpedoed "exactly the same as British ships." Herr Dernburg, a former Secretary of State for t-ho Colonics, is commonly accepted as a sort of semiofficial mouthpiece and no doubt knows, what he is talking about in this case. If he has correctly described the intentions of the German Government, developments are in prospect which would surely disturb even the determined toleration of President Wilson. A later message states that Herr Dernburg, who is at present in America, has been requested t-o return to. his own country. It is mentioned also tfiat President Wilson explains that the Lusitania- was not in his mind when he made his speech at Philadelphia. The explanation makes things worse rather than better. Is the'tragedy of the Lusitania so small a thing to him 1