PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3149, 30 July 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Some not very definite hopes are held out to-day_. that the Russian retreat in Galicia. may presently bo arrested. Detail reports availablo show that the Russians have retired cast of Tarnopol and in the country further south towards the Dniester to a lino distant about twenty —in places not as much—from tho eastern confines of Galicia. On this lino they have in some places repulsed attacks, though in others they admit a limited loss of ground. South of the Dniester the enemy is still making rapid headway, . but the Russian retirement in this area is made necessary by tho change of front further north. According to enemy reports tho Russians have been ' driven out of • North-Western Bukowina, and' are now completely out of touch with the main range of tho Carpathians except where it follows the Rumanian frontier, south of Bukowina. If theso reports are accurate the best hope in sight is that tho Russians may come to a halt on a lino including Czcrnowitz —that is to say, a. lino covering Northern Rumania, but excluding nearly all the enemy territory north of tho Carpathians lately in their rjosscssion.

The indications noted of a stiffening defenco in the area north of the Dniester possibly portend a defensive stancf, though thoro is at present no assurance on the point. In the existing state of affairs interest attaohes to the suggestion of a Petrograd correspondent that the enemy is in no great strength in Southern Galioia, and may as a consequence so weaken in his pursuit as to give the Russians time to arrest their retreat. The suggestion gains more notice than it otherwise would from being made by a correspondent who takes full account of the extent to which the. communications of the Russian armies still fighting havo jWn disorganised by flying mutineers.

Oxii hopeful feature in an otherwise unpromising situation is the continued success of the Russo-Ru-manian offensive in South-Westorn Moldavia. In this region the attacking troops havo advanced about eight miles beyond their starting point and appear to havo reached, if thfv have not passed, the watershe'! "i I lie Carpathians where it divides Hungary from Rumania. Jvozdi Vasarhcly, upon which the cnomy is retiring, is a railway town in Transylvania, about 15 miles west

of the Moldavian frontier. An invasion of Hungary is not likely to go far at this stage, but tho success won in Moldavia lends some colour to the idea that the enemy lacks the force which would enable him to mako full use of his opportunities further north.

Accounts of portentous bombardment on the British front are the more noteworthy since a diversion in favour of tho Eussians is a distinct possibility at the present stage. Meantime Sir Douglas Haig reports a day of brilliant success by the British airmen. Somo of them flow forty miles behind the enemy's front and attacked from low altitudes. That is to say, maximum risks were taken* Yet tho record of losses is thirty-one enemy machines destroyed as against three British aeroplanes missing. * * * *

Reports recently published in tho United States show that expectations are entertained that General Pershing's division will, very shortly take its place in the trenches. Tho American force, it is stated, will be an independent unit co-operating with the Allies. It has been suggested that the Americans might be placed as a, connecting link between the French and British armies, but tho exigencies of the campaign will decide that question. General Pershing's division consists of regular troops and marines, fresh from service on the Mexican border or in l Haiti, or Santo Domingo. • * * # #

Although France, like other Allied nations, has lost a considerable amount of merchant shipping since the outbreak of war, as a result of the enemy submarine campaign and from other causes, her losses havo been more than made good. An official announcement to this effect was made by M. Louis UnderSecretary lor tho Mercantile Marine, . in tho course of a debate in the Chamber of Deputies about a month ago. Tho French merchant fleet was 2,500,000 tons at tho beginning of the war, the Minister stated, and since that time had lost 560,000 tons, 460,000 by acts of war. During the same period 680,000 tons had been built or bought, and another 140,000 was on tho stocks, so that tho fleet was actually greater now than before the war. M. Nail then pointed out that Germany had lost 2,500,000 tons, 50 per cent, of its cntiro fleet, and declared that reports that Germany was building hundreds of ships were mere bluff.

The suggestion was advanced recently by Signor Augusto Cluffelli, a former member of tho Italian CabineT, and at present a member of tho. Italian .Mission in tho tfnited States, that tho Entente nations should take immediate steps to obtain the uso of neutral ships, aggregating more _ than a million tons, at present lying idle in Allied ports. "Hundreds of Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Greek, and Spanish ships, totalling more than 1,000,000 tons," Signor &.uffeiil,i said, "are lying idlo in tho ports of the bcllig•erent nations because of tho submarine menace. The owners of many of tho ships are deliberately holding them in port in order to reap tho extraordinary profits which thoy expect will accrue to them when; in their minds, the shipping situation has reached a point whero trade rates will bo higher than they are now, and insurance rates will decrease. The damago to tho cause of tho Allies caused by these idle ships cannot bo computed. Tho money damages run iur into the millions, since tho inaction of this tonnage contributes towards a constant increase in ocean freight and insurance rates. ' Tho moral damago is even greater, because every hour that theso ships continuo to remain idle prolongs tho war and strengthens the hope which _ Germany places in her submarines."' As practical steps towards bringing tho ships of which he spoke into use, Signor Cluffelli suggested that the Allies might subject them to almost confiscatory port dues for prolonged stays, and might refuso bunker coal to ships declining to accept cargoes bound through danger zones.