PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 12, 9 October 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

One British correspondent _ in Flanders whose message appears today assumes, it will he noticed, that no worso fate is in immediate store for the Germans than .that of preparing a new winter lino in tho near neighbourhood of the ono they hare lost. It is possiblo that he 1 is right, and that the Allies have no thought of forcing an extended enemy retreat this year, but on the general facts disclosed this doe's' not seem by any means certain. Taking acoount of the state of; dcnioralisation into which tho enemy was thrown in Thursday's battle, of his terrible losses, and of the extent to which the bulwark upon' which lie relied has been mastered, it seems . not impossible that, even greater events than have lately taken Bhaipe in Flanders may be witnessed there in the near future. Assuming, howover, that tho enemy may be enabled to defer an extended, retreat, vis-' iblo prospects will afford him little ■ comfort. He stands in evident jeopardy of being dislodged from his fast remaining foothold on high ground, and of being compelled, failing a retreat, to winter on the sodden ground of tho plain, with his defences everywhere overlooked. The position reached is clearly described by Captain Ross in & message which appears to-day. .Beyond the ridges which were in part stormed on Thursday,, the enemy has_no other ridge to fall back upon. ■ The great plain of Flanders, as the official correspondent states, stretches away for many miles, and offers au unpleasant wintering ground. it seems unlikely that'the Germans will escape being driven into this wintering, ground even if for the time- being they escape worse disaster. Their fate will then bo to await another spring with their main communications imminently menaced on both' flanks. «.»»■'■ Many proofs are afforded of the demoralisation which has overtaken the enemy armies in Flanders. Interesting, evidence that the demoralisation is much more than local is afforded in the communique issued by the German General Staff, with the object, it is stated, of allaying German uneasiness. In spite of the object by which it is inspired, this remarkable document is hardly to bo distinguished from a cry of despair, and its line of 'argument is amazing as coming from men who have made ruthlessness a religion, and savagely violated every law and canon of humanity. Tho covinunique is, of all things, a horrified protest against the "bloodiness I of Haig's war methocls." The men who have made Europe a shambles and practised every deviltry in war and against non-combatants that their ingenuity could invent are no longer able to console their dupes with talk about an "iron front, and so they invite them to believe that the British people are aghast at tho deeds of their soldiers, who are storming a way to victory, and that Australia and New Zealand are protesting against the heavy losses of the Anzacs in the recent fighting. The last detail will show the people of this country exactly what credence is to be attached to the official utterances of the German General Staff. Apart from the fact that it contains a string of falsehoods, the communique under notice calls for no further comment than that solo rcsponsibility_ for the continuance, as for tho origin, of tho war rests on Germany. By agreeing to make reparation for her crimos and give guarantees against their repetition, Germany can end ( the war at short notice. To cndit ( on any other terms would be to in- , vito 'far more terrible tragedies , than tho German Genoral btalt is i now bewailing. j

News that a German submarine has beon permitted to escape from a Spanish port in which she had been interned is a disagreeable reminder that forces hostile to the Entente are still operating in Spain. France recently extracted from Spain an undertaking that any submarine entering Spanish waters would be interned, but it is obvious that laxity on the part of the Spanish Government, as well as of treachery of those immediately concerned, must have contributed to the breach of this undertaking now reported. It would be a very simple matter to take such measures as would absolutely prevent tho escape of an interned submarine, and the Spanish Government will hardly make amends for tho neglect of this plain duty by dismissing a few officers. Fortunately the Allies aio now in a position to bring such pressure to bear on Spain or other offending neutrals as should speedily compel them to base their policy on tho dictates of international law.

Now that Peru and Uruguay have broken relations with Germany eight Latin republics are either at war with that country or have severed diplomatic relations. Brazil, Panama, and Bolivia have declared war, and Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and now Uruguay and Peru, have severed relations. In Chile and Argentina German influences have evidently not yet been fully overcome, but the prospect that the end of the war may find North and South America' solidly arrayed against German penetration is improving. A speech by the President of Uruguay, which is reported in one of to-day's cablegrams, is at once a notable vindication of the Allied cause, and a condemnation of Germany such as few nations have ever incurred'. Uruguay, the President stated, had not received direct injury from Germany, but her ■action was necessary to show solidarity with the champions of justice and democracy and of small nations. This is the voice of <a small nation, but it will stand in history as also that of an impartial juror.