PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2733, 30 March 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

It is not to be supposed that news of the detail decisions reached at the Allied War Conference has been allowed to leak out, but the Italian newspaper Stampa is probably near the mark in.stating that the Western commanders have agreed that Germany must not be allowed the facility of accumulating forccs against a single. Ally, arid that any attempt of this kind must be met by 'crushing and combined action. Indeed, it is only reasonable to suppose that Russia, as well as tho AVestern Allies and Italy, is comprehended in an x arrangement of this character. Positive evidence of the fact is supplied in the Russian offensive nowunder way in the Baltic Provinces. Means' are lacking of testing in detail the Dutch report that practically all the Landsturm troops in Belgium havo gone to assist in repelling the Russian attacks, but these attacks are certainly calculated to hamper and impede the Germans in renewing the assault on Verdun or attempting an offensive elsewhere on the Western front. The statement of. the Stampa'is no revelation. It would be extraordinary if the Allies did not set themselves to make an effectivo concentration by the enemy impossible, and by this time they should have the means of' doing so. A belief that they have not is affected by the 'Cologne Gazette, a semiofficial mouthpiece of the German Government. It claims that the initiative is still vested in the high command of the Central Powers, and that/it retains power to compel tho Allies to fight where and when it appoints. The .claim seems to bo already invalidated by news that the Germans have again made abortive assaults on the Western flank of the Verdun lines, while at the same time tho Russians are developing their northern offensive with undiminished, and apparently increasing, vigour. The question as to which siclo holds the initiative should not much loiiger be open to dispute. All visible evidence indicates that tho Allies aro now in a position to compel the enemy to spread his efforts, but time only will show whether they, aim at rapidly subjecting him to maximum pressure or are intent on strangling him by slower methods, a * * »' The momentous character of the Allied Conference just concluded is emphasised in a Paris message which declares that the delegates regard it as a conference of _ victory. There can be no real justification for talking about victory in this way until it has been won, but that tho conference marks a step towards victory need not bo doubted. Reports agree that it afforded signal cvidcnce of the" essential unity and concord that reign in Allied circles. Progress to this'state of affairs from the separation and confusion of interests that formcfly obtained represents a supremely-important _ achievement, and one that multiplies the power or tho Allies in the wai\ It is stated tliat schemes which the military authorities had elaborated iri the fullest detail iri recent irioiiths were cotisldcrad and ratiflad ifl ft fc.v hijfiM, This certainly is a striking proof of

complete unity, for it is tolerably certain that the plans evolved by the military authorities must have involved a certain amount, perhaps a considerable amount, ■ of give-and-take on the part of the responsible political representatives. The fact that Mr. Asquith and Loud Kitchener arc accompanying the Italian delegates to Home is of no small importance and significance as indicating that Italy is acting in full sympathy and accord with her Allies.

* » * ,# Like the recent extension of the British front in the main theatre to a total length of 90 miles, the announcement that future British casualty lists will not disclose either the theatre of war or the battalion concerned is an impressive warning of great events impending. It is a reminder also that the Allies have a scope and freedom in bringing their resources to bear which is likely to tell heavily against the enemy as the conflict develops, and makes it well worth while to conceal the movements of troops * "» * *

Some idea of what "a continued lull" at Verdun means is given'by] an American correspondent,. Mn. | Simms. At a stand now before defences against which their assaults have broken in vain, the Huns have set themselves to demolish the town of Verdun, four miles or more behind the battle-line. With modern guns and incendiary shells the task is one of no great difficulty, but the Germans are not likely to reap any military advantage from' laying' tho business and residential town in ruins. Everything that is of momI ent to the defence will undoubtedly be- protected by earthworks and otherwise as far as protection is possible. Iti would pay the enemy better to concentrate wholly against the French defences and transport, but he will, of course, make the most of the destruction of the town, with an eye to political effect. Mr. Simms confirms the view that the French have organised such a defence thait they now desire nothing more than that the enemy should persevere in his attacks.

A eeport just received shows that the French desire has been gratified to the extent that the enemy has again launched violent assaults against the Malancourt sector, a short front extending west and south from a point about six ir.ilcs west of the Meuse. All the assaults were repulsed with heavy enemy loss, succcssivo waves of troops being swept away by'the French fire.

Reports from the Baltic.Provinces call for little • immediate comment. They relate to a struggle in which very heavy forces are engaged, and in which the Russians claim some headway into the powerful German defences, while the Germans admit no loss of ground, It is essentially a situation which awaits determination.

With the northern struggle in full awing, the. Russians now report a powerful attack Upon the enemy, on the southern fi'ont, which looks like fcfie first instalment of even greater c.vents. The locality of the attack was apparently north of Bojan,; which place is eight miles east of Ozernowitz, the capital' of Bukowina. Ozernowitz, it will be remeni--bered, is the main enemy stronghold oil tho .front which extends across Galicia arid Bukowina. It is defended by immensely powerful work?, cind the particulars given of the Russian attack suggest that it was in fact on the approaches'' to Ozernowitz that it was delivered. Thirteen mines were sprung simultaneously, all of them apparently by tho Russians, who, afterwards entered two lines of enemy trenches, capturing prisoners and five guns. In tho Ozernowitz area such a success may I prove to be important. !' » ' # * *

One dark shadow overhanging an otherwise promising war outlook today is the hews tliafc serious labour troubles have again broken out on the Clyde. The Imperial Govern- 1 ment seems to have made some approach towards firm action by deporting half-a-dozen ringleaders, but the' exact scope of the trouble is not disclosed. An inference that it is, or has been, considerable _ is warranted by reports that strikers in' some of the factories have resumed, and that others are expected to.' To realise the moral standing of'the Btrikevs it is only necessary, to reflect that, if their example were followed at all widely, the result would be to■ bring frightful ruin and destruction' upon their own country, and probably upon its Allies as well, a#■ » «

' Reports from Denmark describe a German submarine of unprecedented size and speed, which is said to have taken aboard a Norwegian crew of thirty, in addition to its own crew of 80 men. Stories of this kind are hardly worth considering. The ordinary submarine carries a crew of little more than thirty men, and one carrying a complement of 80 and with.'extensive accommodation unoccupied would be a veritable mammoth of her class. It is interesting to note, however, that naval writers who foretold the present recrudence of enemy submarine activities anticipated the appearance of larger and more powerful underwater craft than the Germans employed last year. A renewal of' the campaign was taken for granted because it was known that Germany had considerable resources available for the construction of new boats and indeed some experts attributed the great falling away in .the campaign, during the period of half a year now ended, rather to a shortage of traiiied officers and crews than to a shortage of submarines. The idea that larger boats would be built was based upon an assumption that when the campaign was resumed the Germans would probably direct their activities to raiding in the open sea rather than in the areas adjacent to Great Britain, in which so many submarines have been lost. For work in the open seas boats of considerable cruising range and carrying the heaviest possible guns are, of course, much more suitable than those of a smaller type. It is possible that Germany has reorganised her submarine flotillas on these lines. She has had time to train a fairly large number of submarine sailors, and to build bigger boats. Those practical possibilities, however, lend no colour to such apparently extravagant stories as are transmitted from Denmark. Up to a point, size and gun-power in' the submarines are a consideration. For instance, there is an obvious advantage in arming submarines with a gun or guns powerful enough to enable them to contend on more than equal tkrms with an armed merchantman, as some of them are reported to hi'.vc done. There is a limit, however, to the possibilities of useful development on these lines, arid audi a boat as; the Danish reports describe scorns to excccci this

limit. • However big she might be, ] she would be hardly better than a somewhat feeble cruiser when operating on the surface, and unless in the factor of speed, she would be no more efficient than any other submarine in oporating submerged. So far as striking power is concerncd, almost any submarine afloat is capable of sinking the proudest Dreadnought, if the chance presents itself. The localities in which ships haye been sunk recently have been indicated only in a few eases. So far as they have been indicated they go to show that the raiders are again operating in areas in which they are exposed to the heaviest dangers. For instance, there are said to be rejoicings in Germany over the sinking of the Sussex, on the ground that the submarine which sank her was the first which had penetrated that part of the Channel and escaped. The implied admission that others had failed to escape is notable, and the claim that tne submarine which torpedoed the Sussex escaped is not necessarily in accordance with fact. Reverting to the main question, evidence as far as it goes is somewhat against the theory that the Germans are now reI lying upon big submarines raiding in the open seas, but the evidenoe is not, of course, conclusive.