PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2725, 21 March 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The Germans have fared so badly in their recent efforts against Verdun that there ii ground for real regret in the fact that their attacks are now dying away. But it was, of course, too much to hope that they would eohtinne to knock their heads unavailing'ly against the stubborn wall of the French defence. Plainly they can accomplish nothing by such attacks as were recently swept away at Dead Man's Hill and in the Vaux sector. The attack mentioned to-day, on the front immediately south-east of Vaux, seems to have been less important, and it was as decisively repelled. It is, of course, not to be supposed that the enemy will go on launching attacks to no better purpose than to provide a target for the French artillery and madhlno-gunß. Unless he template wita eauanimity—his

choice should now lie between bringing great additional forces of men and gun's to bear against Verdun, or concentrating against some _ other section -of the front. According to a French semi-official message, the enomy has definitely failed, and is destined to be broken against the fortress, but this may be written with a conccaled jmrposo. It does not completely dispose of a possi-

bility that the enemy may renew in its present area the offensive 111 which so far he has so signally, faile.l to achieve his purpose.

While it cannot be supposed that the Germans have exhausted their offensive power, the result to date of the Battle of Verdun affords the Allies much reasonable ground for satisfaction. The Germans have advanced for a few miles on the short front which has witnessed the most terrible fighting of the war. Roughly speaking, they have moved their lines inward for about four miles along the front north and east of the fortress, the captured area running out to nothing at a point east-south-east of Verdun. But these miles haVo been won by the enemy at fearful cost, and ho has traversed them not to a victory, but to a defeat. The German losses are estimated at 300,000 men,, and it is'said that five million shells were fired into the Vc-rdun area in the first fortnight of 1 a battle which is now in its fifth week. Of the five million shells, a

large proportion, wore of heavy calibre, and some of the heaviest. A dozen 16-inch howitzers throwing a projectile of a ton weight we™ in action against the fortress. _ Taking facts like these into consideration,

there can be no doubt _ that the pnemy struck at Verdun in the hope of winning a sweeping and decisive success! and his failure is to bo measured accordingly,

* * * * It has been said that the Verdun

battle is not likely to end without exercising a decisive influence upon the future developments of the -war, and even if it lias to all intents and purposes ended now, there should bo no reason to alter this opinion. Persevering in the policy they have adopted at Verdun, the Germans will necessarily _ stake everything upon a bid for victory. On the other hand, they_ cannot recede from this policy without confessing that, they have attempted a task beyond their strength, and that the men and material sacrificed and expended at Verdun have been squandered in vain. Meantime they no doubt claim that the gain of ground at Verdun is an important step towards victory, . but if they show by iriaction that they are, in-' capable of taking the next step, the bottom will fail out of their pretence. In that event the moral , and political effect in Germany wouid no doubt be serious, and the failure would be duly noted in the neutral countries, which are closely watching present struggles. Upon the Allies also the - effect would be heartening, though they would doubtless much prefer that Germany should continue to develop and press her offensive. * * .' » *

There is news of intense artillery fighting on several sections of - the Western front, and numerous airbattles are reported, in which the Allies as well as_the Germans have lost several machines. Otherwise the only notable outside the Verdun area reported at time of writing is the recapture by the Germans of a section of the Hohenzollern redoubt, south of La Bassee, captured by the British at. the beginning of the month. » * # * According.to the Busske Slovo the Germans are making elaborate technical preparations on the . Dwina front in the Baltic Provinces—presumably improving their transport

arrangements, concentrating guns, and accumulating munitions—in readiness for an .offensive similar to | that which is now at a halt before I Verdun. This is somewhat startling-' ly supplemented by a- German official message which declares that violent Russian attacks on the Dwina front havo been broken and defeated, at a loss to the Russians of over 9000 killed. Neither'of these stories is

.particularly probable. The German 'l-eport, in fact, is exceedingly improbable. Losing 9000 men killed, the Russians would incur total losses four or five times as great, and there is ho possible reason to suppose that they have incurred such a sacrifice attacking in an area where they have poor prospects of advancing to any material extent until the enemy has been soundly beaten in other parts of the Eastern theatre. It has been the Russian policy for a long time past to stand in the defensive in the Baltic Provinces, and they are likely in the main to adhere to this policy meantime, though they have been at ionic points threatening the German communications. * * * *

Ab to tbe general outlook in the Eastern theatre it is obviously in the south that the Russians may be expected to strike _ their next great blow, more especially as there are prospects of powerful Allied action in the Balkans, prospects ( which receive some notice in the news today. There, have been many predictions of a German offensive in the Baltic Provinces designed to divert and weaken Russian action in the south, but it is doubtful whether the cneiuy can afford to risk much in such an effort in the present unsatisfactory state of his affairs in the other main theatre. He- failecl in long-continued and desperate efforts to break through on the Dwina front last autumn, and can scarcely hope to resume the enterprise with better prospects unless at the cost of dangerously reducing his strength m the area south towards the Rumanian frontier, and in the Westell theatre.

Four German seaplanes raided Dover, Deal, and other English coast towns on Sunday, and by bomb-dropping killed mile persons, including one woman and five children, and wounded 31, of whom 14 were women and Measured by German'standards, this , was the most successful ail* attack on England yet attempted by heavier-than, air machines, but there is a redeeming feature. One of the raider? was pursued and brought down by ■Flight-Commander Bone, _ and the observer was killed- _ Besides being ah act of exemplary justice, this was a notable feat, since enemy raiders who make a rapid approach to the coast, and as rapidly depart, are necessarily not easily . overtaken. The boinb-dropning of the raiders seems to have been quite indiscriminate. This appears from the large proportion of women and children 111 the casualty roll, and also in the fact' that the material damage' done was apparently confined to an hospital and residential buildings. Raids of this character presumably afford an outlet for German hate. They rti'O not likelv to sarvo any military end.

It is so difficult to find a motive for the action of the Germans in sinking two Dutch liners that speculation on the subject naturally ranges somewhat widely. An example of the fact is the suggestion made by the naval expert of the iDaily Chroniclc, that Germany is really taking steps to,fasten a quar- ' rel on Holland with a view to oc-' cupying Dutch territory and making use of Dutch ports as strategic vantage points, in _ continuing the work of naval attrition. This obviously is an improbable and ill-bal-anced theory. It confers undue weight and importance upon the advantages that would accme to Germany if she were in possession of the Dutch seaports,, anc! makes far too light of the difficulties that would have to be overcome in securing them, assuming always that the enterprise is feasible. ; This is not by any means certain. Other things apart, it' is not easy to believe that Germany is willing at this time of day to invite the active enmity cf a country which can pub a well-found army of something like half a milli';". men into the field. Attacking Hdiand, she would in the first place sacrifice whatever trade benefits she derives frr.n.i contact with that coun= try. She would then have to over.:ome the opposition of the Dutch army, and here it is to be remembered that the Dutch scheme of defence contemplates the concentration ' of the army in the Holland fortress, an area including the principal seaports, and protected less by forts than by a wide-stretching belt of inundation. Menaced as she now is in both main theatres, the immediate difficulty of mastering Holland should he enough to deter wprmany from attempting the task.

This, however, is only one aspect' I of the matter. If she attacked HolGermany would not only present her enemies with a useful ieii - forcemcnt, but would bo providing tl.o Allies with a. gateway through which to attack her in flank. She would be much less likely to herself obtain possession of the Dutch sea-, ports than to make them available to the Allies. Taking these considerations in their aggregate effect, it seems absurd to suppose that Germany would provoke a war with Holland. Yet the two liners have been sunk. One grossly provocative act has followed on another, and as far as can be seen at present these outrages are meaningless unless they were intended to pro-, voke and antagonise Holland. Such a policy, on Germany's part is, if possible, more surprising than an invasion of Holland would be. The 1 outrages apart, nothing seems less likely at the moment than that sho is prepared to deliberately extend Ijie .war in this way, but if, against all reason and probability, she had come to such a decision, her natural course would be, not to adopt a round-about procedure, but to act \Vith speed and decision. The line of action she has tak?n is calculated to antagonise Holland, and at the samo time to put that country on its guard against anything in the nature of a surprise attack! These considerations, as emphasising the apparent folly of the- German policy, retain their full force even if the supposition is entertained that the reluctance of Germany to enter upon a war with Holland may have been overcome by a fear that the latter country intends ultimately' to join the Allies. .

_ Apparently Germany is insinuating that British submarines might have sunk the liner Tubantia. We have had no direct statement to that effect, but a Dutch newspaper, the Courant. of Rotterdam, mentions and ridicules the innuendo. In other circumstances this might have been regarded as a possible suggestion of the - German motive which at the moment is so completely hidden. But if the ruling motivfc had been to stir up trouble between Britain and t Holland by fabricating charges arainst British submarines,, more would presumably have been heard abo.ut it by this time. There would at least have been denials by tha German Admiralty that any German submarines were in the locality in which the Tubantia was sunk at the time of the outrage. The Courant, it will bs noted, talcs the viow that Germany . is seeking . to force war on Holland.

Confirmation of the theory that the Germans sank the Tubantia with a view to saddling the outrage on Great Britain is supplied in a message just received. It covers a German official statement that there were no German mines in the area in which the liner was sunk, and that no German submarine could have been in the locality, since it is outside the "blockade area'' proclaimed when the submarine campaign was ( inaugurated last year. A statement is issued also by ijhe British Admiralty that no British submarines were I in'the vicinity at the time of the disr aster.. An motive is now supplied for the sinking of the Tubantia which hitherto has been lacking. The attempt to stir up trouble between Britain and Holland may be little l likely to succeed, but obviously it will be no easy matter to expose the German deception. However strong suspicion may be, proof can hardly be obtained that it ,was in fact a German submarine that torpedoed the Tubantia. Meantime, the new turn given to events suggests strongly that Germany feels it nec-i essary to sow discord between .Britain and Holland, presumably because she fears that they may yet act against her in concert. ,It is much more likely that she harbours fears of this character than that she is prepared to make w-nr on Hollandin the hope of securing the mouth of the Rhine and the Dutch seaports. ,

On Thursday next a deputation consisting of the members of tho Wellington Education Board and Technical Education Board is to wait oil tho Minister of Education (the Hon. J. A. Hanan) in regard to the provision of new premises for tho Technical College. Tho position of the college at al-

most Gilbertian. It is an off-shoot; from tho Wellington Education Board, and has up to date occupied a portion of the board's building, but now it ia under orders to vacate those quarters —which in themselves are altogether inadequate for tlic college—and its control is quite at a loss what to do. The City Counoil has signified its intention of lending assistance to a building project, but it is first imperative secure a site, and lit is to get a definite understanding with tho Government on that point that the deputation is to wait on the Minister on Thursday.

"Speaking of carejessness and its cost, a paragraph in the engineer's report ve dredging is eloquent," remarked Mr. C. E. Daniell,- chairman of the Harbour Board, yesterday. "Seven hundred tons of coal were thrown into the harbour by the owners in their primitive method of transferring their property from one, vessel to another. It had to be dredged from tho sea bottom and- carried away at the cost of the community, not to bo used, but wasted. Many observe ant men have remarked on the laborious was that coal is handled here, but few could have guessed the extent of the waste."

The entries ' received for the baby sliow at the waterside workers' picnic reached the high number of 54, hut it was loft to St. Patrick's Day sports to create a record, when some 68 entries were received.

A start is likely to be made at an early date with the erection of the Wellington Meat Export Company's new freezing works at Kakariki, near Marton. The works have been designed by Mr. E. J. Greenstreet, of "Wellington, who will also supervise their erecxion.- It is estimated that during the I season the works, will employ about 200 men.: The storage rooms have a capacity of holding 200,000 carcasses. ,The refrigerating machinery will be on the

ammonica compression system, and_ approximately equal to 300 tons of refrigerating every twenty-four hours. The plant will be driven by economical steam engines; A large electrical generating plant in duplicato_ will provide tho power for pumping, lighting, .. and motor power generally required at the works. An extensive watjer supply sys-

tem will be installed,' which will be taken from a well sunk on the river Bed. The water will be' electrically pumped when required to different parts of the works. The buildings are so designed that, any further extension of the works to a capacity of 6000 sheep a day can be made with practically no inconvenience.

At the meeting of the War Pensions Board last week claims for the preceding week were dealt with. Sixty-three I Mdiers' claims were examined, and 23 were granted pensions, 30 were given allowances for various .terms; and eight claims were refused and two cases were adjourned. The total number of claims now dealt with is:—Soldiers 662, dependants 642: total 1304. These figures are accounted for as follows Of the 662 soldiers 193 have been granted pensions, 291 granted allowances, 61 refused, 19 adjourned, and-90 are still in hand. Of the claims by dependants 548 pensions have been granted) six have Deen given allowances, 39 applications refused, six adjourned, 43 still in hand. The total cost so far is as follows:—The 193 pensions to soldiers represent £9927 annually; pensions to 113 wives and children represent an annual payment of £10,038; the remaining 433 dependants absorb £12,983; making a total ■ for the 741 pensions of £32,948. There,-is .also ,a sum,<o_f £7418 on. account of .297 allowances, though-this is not a recurring. payment. Details of the 23 soldiers' pensions granted last week are as follow: —One (full) at £91 per annum; four at £78; two at £65; seven'at £52; four at £39; five at £26. Since the beginning of February the board lias received and dealt with 450 claims from soldiers alone, and this has entailed an enormous ■ amount of work on the part of the secretarial staff.

"In the matter of war service the board has sought to do its part," remarked tho chairman of tho Welling•ton Harbour Board yesterday. "The reports record that.thirty-six men from the staff have enlisted. Some of these Lave fallen, and others seek to fill their places. In all these cases the board pays half tho regular wage. As far as possible, sheds and .appliances have been freely placed at the disposal of the Defence Department, and our officers have successfully co-operated with authorities on many occasions." 1

Despite the war the state of trade at the Port of "Wellington during most of the year was surprisingly good, says the. Harbour Board > engineer. Imports from English and foreign ports declined, but the'shortage in this direction was almost made up by the increase in colonial and coastal imports. Transhipments' reached record figures, as did the exports of frozen moat and dairy produce. Wool showed a largo increase, but hemp and timber t shipments declined.

The estimated liabilities of' the Wellington Harbour Board on account of contracts lot and in hand on September 1 30, 1914, amounted to £11,074 Os. Id., to which has to be added £9540 for additional contracts let during the year, and £134 os. 6d. for additions to contracts, making a total of £20,748 0s 7d. From this- amount £14,361 3s. 7d. has to be. deducted for payments made on completed contracts and for progress payments on' contracts in hand, and also £221 6s. 6d. v for deductions from contracts, leaving a balance of £6165 10s. 6d. -as the estimated liabilities of the board on accbunt of contracts as on September 30, 1915. These particulars are taken "he annual report of the board's engineer. It is<an ill wind that blows nobody good, as witness the following entry in the "Diary of War," published by the "Weekly Cape Times"-: —"January 4— Loss of three more ships in the Mediterranean brings home the value of tho Cape route to shipowners." ' The State Teachers' National Education Association -of America recently

conducted an essay competition 011 "The Essential Place of l?eligion in Education, With an outline of a plan for introducing Religious Teaching into Public Schools." According t-o a monograph, published by the' assocjation in January last, a nation wide interest .was awakened in 1 the subjfect, as Was shown by the fact that 1381 per-

sous, representing every State in the Union save one, entered tho contest, the competitors being most part persons engaged in some branch of the teaching profession. Sir. Charles E. Rugh, Profcssof of Education, University of California, was the first n-ize-winnor, and his essay with others has now been printed for -general circulation. There is a great deal in the monograph to interest those who have given any thought to. the question ot religion in our State schools. Petrol motor traction is advancing by leaps and bounds throughout the Dominion, and the forward orders for English motor vehicles at present in the hands of the .local Dominion Motor Vehicles, Ltd., are piled up, and now represent a capital value ot many- thousands 6f pouuds. The difficulty of deliveries is a most serious factor, and while we thank our many customers for their patience mid willing, ness to wait, we recognise that business must gu on. We hnve. therefore, secured control of absolutely the finest Standard American Motor Lorry, and liavo now on show n 2/3-ton vehicle, with every possible eqtiipirtont, and designed for heavy roads and rdueh work. •' We invite inspection by all 6Ul' present' clients and intending purchasers. The Dominion Mntor' Vehicles) Ltd,,'Go Courteuay Place, —Advtk

The organisation fund of the Dominion Boy bcouts has benefited by donations of £50 each from-Mr. Ernest

Short, of Fcildiug, and the Union Steam

Ship Company

The number of the Wellington Harbour Board's permanent employees on September 30, 1015, was' 326, of whom 293 had their lives insured under the board's scheme, towards the premia of which policies the board paid ilO.'iO, the total sura assured being £69,670, or an average of £204 per employeo assured. The proceeds of the matured policies of eighteen member,? of tho staff, amounting to £3693 19s.> are held by the Retiring Allowance Trustees on fixed- deposit, the amount of added interest to September 30, 1915, boing £512 2s. 7d., .or a total of £4211 Is. 7d. During the vear the sum of £1558 lis. 4d. was paid over by the trustees to members of the staff retired on superannuation. V

"The war" is a topio which creeps into all annual reports. It is covered' thus in the annual report of the societyof the Wellington Harbour Board: —• "Throughout the year'tlie berthing and storage accommodation of the board was freely accorded to the general Government for the dispatch of transports and transport stores. It may be mentioned incidentally that, in conjunction withthei Defence authorities, the board has, during the year, assisted in the embarkation of the various Expeditionary Foiqc3 dispatched by tho Dominion Government, and ulso in the disembarkation of re-

turned wounded and invalided soldiers, without anV casualties of any kind. Priority of berthing was given to tha transport ships, and special overtime Worked whenever necessary to discharge inward cargo; exemption from wharfage was given to all donations of fod» der, motors, and other j nt and' stores; the free use of tho v . exhibition floor of J shed was givm for the storage of hospital ship equipment, and for the greater part of the year the big wool shed on Waterloo Quav, known as King's Ijo. 3, constituted the Defenca authorities' main depot, and was filled with, forage and other military stores and material.' In affording all these facilities free of charge the Wellington Board only did what other Dominion boards would have done in like circumstances, and feels itself amply reconipensed in knowing thai it has done its utmost to help forward the work of the Empire. To assist the National Reserve movement the board gave the frea use of several of its sheds to the various sections throughout tho j l ear fo» evening drills. In reply to the Hon. A.' M. Myers, Minister of Munitions, the board at its August meeting expressed its readiness to do all in its power, either by loan- of machines or . premises or both, to assist in the making of munitions of war." Some months ago (states an ex. change) there appeared in English and colonial illustrated papers a photo, of a mounted man surrounded by Indian soldiers, the photo, having been taken at Gallipoli. Under the photo, appeared the following letterpress"Twice a day this man, an Australian, was in tho habit of riding for about a mile, amid flying bullets, carrying dispatches be. tween Anzac and the, headquarters of' the Australian division - He .'lost sev- ■ oral horses during his daily ride witli Death, but up to the 1 time of this picture being taken he had escaped all danger. It 1 would be interestihg to know tflie name of this gallant rider." The identity of the rider has now been revealed, Mr. Alec. Strachau, of Waver-, ley,' having received from his son, Douglas, an illustrated paper with the pic-i ture in question, marked: "Do you re-, cognise me, or is my whisker too long?" Douglas Strachan left New Zealand with the Main Expeditionary Force

When a letter was read at the meet* ing of-the council of the CentralCham* ber of Commerce yesterday; inviting ths Chamber's co-operation, in the All-for. Empire League's . anti-German tj-ada movement, the chairman (Mr. Leigh Hunt) stated-tihat the Chamber wild claim to have had something to do with the formation of the league, when tliey had said that commercial travellers could do much to • prevent German trade. Whilst he was in entire sym. pathy with the leagues objects, (lie was afraid that there would be a, gooo deal of overlapping and a diffusion ol energy in the existence of so manj, bodies, and it was a pity that they could not he attached to some other body aa a sub-committee." In agreeing to tha request, he, thought should emphasise that too many bodies vith simi-. far objects were springing into existence, and that there was tod much overlapping. It- was decided that the pre. sident (Sfr. 0.-M-Luke) attend the-meeting that was being called by the league, or, in his absence, Mr. Leigh Hunt.

'As from yesterday the price of "Three Castles" cigarettes has been advanced 2s. per, thousand, -wholesale, whichbrings the price up to £1 17s. 6a. (duty paid) per thousand, to whioh has to be. added 1 per cent, primage on the cost of the cigarettes, which is' 4£d. per packet as nearly, as possible. ;lt must be noted, hoover, that these cigarettes can only he bought at £1 per thousand (less duty) in case <3000 packets)i lots. The traffic of the port of Wellington (according to the annual report of the harbourmaster) shows a mailed increase over the previous year. One hundred and twenty-two vessels were berthed at this whar/ to discharge or ,oad the following cargoes:—Discliarged: Timber, '1,565,023 super, feet; coal, 29,906 tons; general, 725 tons; sheep, 3818; Cargo loaded: General, 2263 tons: ballast, 10l tons. At Miramar, forty-three vessels discharged or loaded the following cargoesDischa-^ged—TimbfiFj 11,549 /super. feet; • coal, 1820 tons; general, 12 tons; sheep, 16,305. Cargo landed— Sheep, 6355. , At Petone, four vessels discharged the following cargoes-.—Goal, 272 tons; general, 12 tons. v