NO SPEEDY END

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2744, 12 April 1916, Page 6

NO SPEEDY END

ADVANTAGES OF THE DEFENSIVE

MR. ASHMEAD BARTLETT'S

OPINIONS

Somo of the reasons why we must not expect a speedy end to the war were given by Mr. Ashmead Bartlett in an address to the New Zealand Club yesterday. To many who did not know what modern warfare • was, our progress' might, he said, seem to be distinctly, slow, but modern warfare bad entirely upset- all the old preconceived ideas. The first thing to be considered was that in the whole course of the present war the German drive against the Russian armies was the only real offensive that had yet succeeded. Even on that occasion the Russians were never beaten. They were merely push, ed back, chiefly becauso they were short of munitions and artillerv of all sorts. In the early parts of the war, when the Germans enjoyed every advantage, when we had only a tinjr little army across, when the French were not organised, being unable to get the men to the colours when they were called, and when, the Germans were sweeping _ down through France irresistibly, as it seemed, they could not get past the Marne. They then attempted that further great advance the objective of which was Calais. Here it was that the British rendered to Europe t the greatest service in history.j For a time a single British division held up at Ypres seven German divisions for a week. This furnished an example of how determined infantry could hold up a great advance even by overwhelming numbers. That heroic British division, although very severely punished, absolutely checked the German advance, and gave time for" our first and Becond army corps to come up and make good the gaps in the lino. This was an example of how great the difficulties were of attacking an entrenched position, and ■ there the British entrenchments were very imperfect, nothing like those of the Germans to-day. The same thing was happening at Verdun. The Germans had made' enonnous losses, but they had not yet scratched the backbone of the French resistance. This attack was really playing into our hands. , Verhaps tl«* time was coming when we should have to make. another effort on the Western front. All would depend on how much pressure the Russians could bring to bear in the East, hoiv far the French armies would be able to - co-operate after this struggle at Verdun, and how far the Allies cmild co-operate on all the fronts at once. Our army, with only 80 miles of front, had more men than any other nation on any length of line. They were for that reason in a better position to attack, but it was no good to be optimistic. It was obviously going to bo no easy matter to break through. He rather thought that there would be a further long economic struggle at the end of which either the Central Powers or the Allies would have to give way. And he thought the Central Powers wore bound to feel the 6train first, more especially in view of the way in which they were using up their men in these groat. assaults; Perhaps the military situation was highly favourable to us,ion both points at present, but whether we' could break through or not was a different preposition altogether. That was an operation in. which only slow progress must be expected, because trenches must, be taken i mile by mile, or even hundrd, yards by.hundred yards, and then : consolidated.' "■

The only real menace to' the Empire now was the submarine monace, and this was undoubtedly becoming a very difficult thing to handle. Tho enemy submarines wero getting larger and more formidable, but he did not think it was within the power of Germany to build enough submarines to make our position precarious. It would be essential,' however, for us to obtain a peace which wouid put a stop to the Central Powers building the submarines in future. If Germany in the years before the war had spent on'submarines onehalf of what she spent on the battleships which, were now hiding in the Kiel Canal, then our position would have been exceedingly■• difficult. We must get some guarantee that in the future our Empire would not be menaced by these under-water craft. If Germany could now make friends all round and stop the war, she would concerntrate for ten years on the building of submarines and then 'declare war on Britain. All the Allies, however, were absolutely loyal to one another, and no ; one of thorn would conclude a separate peace with the Central Powers. When peace .came it must be a peace which would absolutely ensure tranquility on the Continent of Europe in the future, and to every-nation the peaceful possession of' its own territories, however small, and, above all, it must be a peace that would extend, to the seas as well, by a restriction imposed upon the building of under-water oraft by Germany and Austria. Undoubtedly these terms would be hard to obtain, end to get them we might have a long road to travel, but it was better for us. to go now further down that road rather than to patch up a peaoo. "If you read history, ho concluded, "you will find that nations who have moral .right on their side, who uphold right and justice, have generally triumphed in the end. We are fighting for high ideals, fighting for civilisation, and a nation that has come forward as ours has done, a nation with Allies like Australia, New Zealand; and Canada, giving its thousands of millions of treasure and its men to fight iu the common cause —why, it seems to .mo. that such an Empire is destined to continue in the future rather than a country that has set- herself up as a bully and a t.yrant, ah oppressor of small nations, an outrager of women and'children, a nation who refuses to recognise civil rights, and who has in this war committed outrages . unknown in warfare even amongst savage peoples in past years." (Loud applause.)