PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2769, 12 May 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Those who. select tlio cable news l which roaches us from overseas, would seem, to be anxious just now to show how badly the enemy is taking'the development of events in the war, and how desirous the Central Powers are of an early peace. These peace stories are said to emanate from the Vatican, but notwithstanding the fact that the. Popk. has shown himself keenly anxious to assist in _ bringing an end ■to the struggle, it is safe to discount very heavily the sort of stuff which is doled out to us to-day from the Rome correspondent of the London Daily News. His story conjures up a vision of the Kaiser rushing frantically about in an endeavour, to find ! or to make an opening for peace overtures. The details supplied would really be very convincing were- it not for the fact that such circumstantial knowledge of hap-' penings within the inner circlc of the KAiser's 'entourage, and such an intimate acquaintance with the Kaiser's inmost thoughts, makes tho whole thing rank as nothing more than speculative guesswork, based possibly on some stray incident, or possibly on nothing more substantia] than German-made rumour. There arc, of course, definite facts which go to show that peace' overtures of a kind have been attempted, but there is nothing whatever to show that the Central Powers are anxious for peace; and certainly nothing to show that they would be willing at present to'accept such terms as the Allies in honour to Belgium must insist on.

_ Indeed, the peace talk which from \ time to time secures a great deal more publicity than it deserves is really a device of the enemy, designed to undermine, the resolution of tho Allies to prosecute the war to that conclusion which alone will secure such measure of recompense, as may be possible for the past, and which.will adequately safeguard the. future. The hope, no doubt, is held by our enemies that in the first place these professions of a desire for peace will have an influence on neutrals who are not concerned about tho terms of peace, but arc only anxious to see an end to a war which not only inconveniences them, but which is a constant menace to their own peace. But in addition to this there is always tho chance that by constantly harping on the possibility of peace the people' in the countries J of the Allies may have their thoughts turned in that direction instead of being concen-trated.-on the only goal through which a lasting and satisfactory peace may be hoped for—that is, tho goal of victory. Sir William Irvine, speaking ,in the Federal Parliament yesterday in support of conscription, said ho did not think we should lose the war, but tho danger of a premature pcace becamo greater every day. There is nothing to show that the danger he speaks of is becoming greater every day, but it is the greatest danger ahead of the Allies; and it can ho best met by resolutely setting our faces against all peace talk, and devoting our whole energies to providing the men necessary to win that great victory which it lies within our power to achieve.

Lateh messages on this topic go 1 to strengthen the views expressed above, It will bp. noted that the Pope is said to have flatly contradicted tho stories as to his activities with the ICaiseji _ and President Wilson on the subject of peace. It is also statod that not the slightest interest has been excitcd in England by the suggestion of peace engineered by the German agencies. This is as it should be. It is well to recall tho remarks of Loud Cukzon. a day or two ago, when, he made his interesting disclosure's regarding happenings "in the Coalition Cabinet. One tiling, he said, lie had never heard mentioned at Cabinet; meetings, and Uiat was peace.

In conjunction with the peaca rumours comes the customary batch of stories concerning conditions in Germany; the hardships endured by the civil population, the discontent and unrest. The people, wo are told, arc discouraged; one Danish journal, "after careful investigations," arrives at the conclusion that Germany cannot keep the war going until the end of the year, owing to the shortage of food. Thesu

6tories from neutral countries are as a rule greatly exaggerated. It is certain that the people of Germany and Austria and Turkey are suffering a great deal as tho result of the war; it is certain that they havo been forced to endure food restrictions which they dislike and which in many cases have imposed severo hardship. That they are becoming discouraged over the slow progress of the war may also he-accepted as a fact; but it would be unwise to draw any sweeping conclusions from these things. Tho great mass of the people know very little about the real stato of things in respect to tho war. They see or hear of huge casualty lists, and they know their losses have been great, but they are told and they believe that the Allies have lost and suffered still worse; and there is this undisputed fact to uphold them, that their armies occupy Allied territory in Belgium and France, that they have swept across Poland and far into Russia, that Serbia lies subdued under their, great war machine. Is it surprising, therefore, it, when they are told that' the Fatherland is triumphant and that the enemy must ultimately yield, they believe it? It is well that we should realise these things, for like tfie peace talk much of this stuff which reaches us concerning conditions in Germany is designed to throw us off our guard and induce us to slacken our effort's. Instead it should spur us on to throw added weight into the struggle with' a view to hastening the end.

After a great deal of shuffling and many denials Germany now admits that a-German submarine was responsible for the sinking of the Sussex. This particular crime, it is claimed, was due to the negligence of the submarine commander. who_ it is promised will be • duly punished. Reparation is also to be made. Washington authorities may regard this as a hopeful sign that Germany proposes to adhere to the conditions laid down in the recent exchange of Notes on the subject of submarine warfare. We shall see. It will probably be found that there are other negligent commanders for whose action due apology will ba made—after the crime.

It will be recalled that a month or two back, when Germany was making such an outcry against the arming of British merchantmen for defence against submarine piracy, the German Admiralty endeavoured to show that the British vessels were armed for offence, not merely for defcnce. In support of this view they issued a list of cases in which hostile merchant ships fired on German or Austro-Hungarian submarines. endeavouring to attack them. The information thus supplied was hardly, calculated to create the impression hoped for. On tho contrary, to quote the naval correspondent of The Times, it conveyed a great compliment to 'the courage, skill, and resourcefulness of our officers and men of tho mercantile marine, and showed that the arming of the ships was a very proper defensive step to take. Altogether 18 cases were (juotcd by the German naval authorities, and an examination of them il illuminating. In three cases out of the total tho steamer was sunk, but only after a certain time had elapsed, and when apparently the trader had exhausted her supply of ammunition or was overpowered by the, heavier mctalof the submarine. But 15 came safely through, and it is pointed out that this is quite a remarkable proportion when it is borne in mind that the list is necessarily restricted to "the occurrences of which the Germans have received rcjoorts. "What of the instances in which the defiant and bold attitude of the merchant captains not only saved their vessels, but inflicted such damage upon tho submarines that tho latter never returned to port at all?

• * t # !- « But to return to the 15 succcss* ful examples quoted by the Germans. In four eases it is admitted that "tho submarine escaped the wellaimed fire by submerging quickly," or "the submarine barely sucoeeded in escaping by speedily submerging." In the remaining examples it is suggested that the gunnery of the merchant vessels did not occasion the' submarines to hurry, but the ,fact remains that the submarines thought it advisable to keep off. The amazing part of this extraordinary business is that'the German Admiralty appear to think that it was a wrong thing for the merchant vessels to firo on German submarines "without provocation" or "without waiting for a warning shot." That is to say, they cxnectcd our merchant captains to allow their submarines to get in tho first hit, perhaps a torpedo, in tho ship's vitals, before they hit back. The best comment that can be made on such a proposition is that made 'by the naval'correspondent of The Times I "What tho fate of the merchant captain (who adopted such a course) might be, if he was so foolish, is plainly shown by the Admiralty list of 40 vessels which were sunk by German submarines during 1915 without warning of any kind." It is very evident from the facts quoted that'the arming of merchant vessels has had a very wholesome influence on enemy submarines, and that the guns in a great many cases have been put to effective use.

What is styled a revelation of the inner history of Verdun is made by the Paris Matin. According to tho French journal, the magnitude of the German attack at Verdun was not anticipated by the French commanders. and at the outset there were only GO,OOO French troops on the spot available to meet the onrush of 200,000 Germans. This may be true enough, but when the writer goes on to profess a knowledge of' the intimate plans' and changes of policy at the critical early stages'of the struggle one may be pardoned for acccpting his story with reservations. The fury of the attack and the recklcss prodigality with which the lives of the German soldiers were thrown away were without precedent even in this great war, and it will occasion littlc>. surprise if it succeeded the expectations of the French staff. That they were not unprepared, however, is demonstrated by the manner in which it was met and defeated. The Germans appear to possess an advantage in transport facilities, but it could have been no surprise to the Commander-in-Chief of the -French that numerous light lines of railway had been constructed as feeders to_ the German front in the Verdun region, and tho danger of a heavy and concentrated attack in this vicinity must have been foreseen. However, tho enemy threw for a big stake—perhaps the biggest of the war—and were beaten handsomely. If they failed in spite of catching the French napping, as the Alalia, states, then so much the less is their chance where the conditions arc more equal in point of numbers; and the advantage on the side of the

Allies in this respect is a growing one. The position at Verdun continues unchanged, all the' enemy's latest efforts having resulted in nothing more than a heavy sacrifice of life. At time of writing events en other portions of the Western front appear to be quite normal.

A late message published yesterday indicated activity on the Macedonian frontier suggestive of possibilities of coming developments in the Balkans. It is not clear whether the Allies are taking the offensive or whether they are being attacked, but it is by no means unlikely that the bombardment recorded is preliminary to a forward move by the forces at Salonika. With the_ advent of spring the expected activity may be looked for in the Balkans.

There is a brief budget of news from Russia, all of a satisfactory •nature. The progress towards Bagdad continues, and further succcs;is reported in this direction.

A big German offensive, wo are told, is being prepared, at Beriin; the chronicler of this illuminating item even condescending to give us a list of the names of the high military dignitaries who are sitting in conference with the Kaiser on this important topic. . The message is, of course, mere guesswork—possibly the idlestof rumours. If the meeting is being held at all we can be 'quite certain that its particular purpose is not known to the sender of the telegram.