PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 69, 14 December 1917, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Considerable prominence is given by correspondent to an enemy attack on the British lino between llcincourt arid Bullccourt, about live miles west and north of tlio point at which tho front now turns south opposite Cambrai. The measure of the enemy's success, as appears from an official and other reports, was to reduce portion of a very small salient jutting forward from . the British line. Tho peculiar feature of tho affair, and the ono which commands attention, is that' tho means employed in securing this result were out of all proportion to its magnitude and importance. The strong infantry concentration reported and_ the heavy force of artillery by which it was supported can hardly have been intended only to rcduco a minor salient. Penetrating the front in the area of their .attack tho Germans would be enabled to attack tho British positions west of Cambrai in flank and rear. Presumably this was the achievement at which they aimed. Tho possibility of course appears that tho enemy has merely opened an attack which he intends to develop on a big scalc, but in that ease ho would seem to have opened it very badly. If ho hoped to repeat on tho northern flank of tho British salient tho

surprise thrust by winch ho recently broke into its southern area his hopes have suffered early eclipse.

Reports from Italy describe another tremendous battle in tho mountain areas, with some give-and-take fighting, but the general tenor of the news is to suggest that the renewal of the enemy's offensivo is being met by a defence which is steadily gaining in power. The war has witnessed no grander example of steadfast heroism than that of the Italian rearguards in the grim struggle on the Asiago Plateau, pictured to-day by Mr. Ward Price. Fighting in this spirit the Italians and their Allies will undoubtedly prevail over the enemy's utmost efforts, whatever the momentary aspect of the campaign may be.

Another indication that the spirit of tho Italians has been quickened and not crushed by adversity is afforded in the brilliant naval dash into Trieste Harbour in the course of which an Italian flotilla sank the Austrian coast defence battleship Wien (Vienna). Trieste is not in all respects comparable with _the Austrians' chief naval base at Pola, but it is protected by formidable defences, and the feat of penetrating these defences and sinking a battleship which might have been thought safely beyond the reach of attack is one of which any navy might be proud.

In view <jf Mr. Balfour's revelation regarding a German peace overture to Britain in September last, it is interesting, that in that month the German Press conducted an inspired discussion in which tho principal suggestion raised jvas that the restoration of Belgium might dear the way for pcace. Tho Munich Ncucste Saehrichten dealt with the matter at length. Alleging in the first instance that Belgium was firmly held by Germany— this at a time when the British wero already far advanced in the conquest of the ridges which formerly screened the enemy's front in Elanders—it went on to remark that if the Allies wero ready to renounco their "territorial ahd economic policy pf conquest," then Germany, too, was ready, as regarded tho Belgian question in particular, "for which (tho Gorman journal observed) a special interest is felt in Great Britain." "We are, under tho above-mentioned conditions," it added, "undoubtedly ready to restore tho independence of Belgium. . . Until tho decision on the questions of peace is reached collectively, Belgium, like every other occupied region, must naturally be useful to us as a pawn." Another feature of the German publicity campaign, which, as it now appears, accompanied a diplomatic overture to Britain', was the circulation of a story that Britain had extended a feeler with regard to Belgium. This was promptly given an official denial in Britain.

Reuter's Agency at the time supplied the following statement as presenting what may be regarded as the view held in well-informed British quarters with regard to the attitude of Great Britain and her Allies towards tho recent general but often contradictory statements in tho enemy Press, particularly the German Press, concerning German intentions to make concessions in Belgium and elsewhere:—

'lliero is in Ibo Allied Governments no failure to appraiso these statements at their true value and to realise that at bottom they aro an expression of tho fact that Germany knows she cannot win tho war. It is jierfectly understood that Germany is now seeking, in view of recent evonts 011 the north-enstom fruit, to impress upon her own public that her military position is now such that she can suggest in somo specious fashion a plan of action that would satisfy tlio PanGerman public and might also appeal to pacifist sections in Allied countries. It is therefore just as well that those in tho Contral Powers who aro organising this so-called, pence movemont should lealise that their machinations in 110 way doceivo tho Allies, whose views and determinations as to tho kind of peace they will accept have undergone and can undergo no modifications whatever. So far as tho Allies are concerned, no end to the war is possible until the end for which this terrible conflict was begun and has endured for over tlireo years lias been attained—that is, tho final disappearance of Prussian militarism. * * ft *

Apart from whatever significance they hold as a general confession of weakness, the enemy's peace feelers on'this occasion suggest an opinion on his part (probably riot ill-found-ed) that Belgium, though an important pawn, is one which he may not much longer be in a position to play. Tho British operations in Flanders have been carried to a point at which tho enemy's hold on the Belgian coast—his best baso for submarine operations and for air raids on England—is imminently threatened, and it is natural that bo should desire to use Belgium as a pawn in negotiations while the opportunity of doing so remains. 1 * * * #

A Rome message relating to enemy prisoners in Russia, or formerly held there, distinctly supports tho view that tlfe Central Powers are not likely to secure any very largo additions to their reserves by the release of these prisoners. The message states that since the revolution tho control of Austro-Gcrman prisoners in Russia has been merely nominal, and that fully half have regained their liberty, but it also emphasises the fact that they have been scattered broadcast and that many have entered the Allied ranks, The facts regarding the Czechs of Bohemia, who constitute in point of numbers an important seotion of the Austrian armies, were summed up recently by _ Professor T. G. Masaryk, a distinguished Czech at present in England. . "When the war broke out,' he said, "our nation ... at once joined tho Allies, though they have been formerly a part of Austria-Hungary, which provoked this horrible war. Our soldiers refused to fight; they surrendered en masse, helping in this way the Allies on the Russian and Serbian fronts, and thousands of our soldiers been shot and hanged by the Austrians." Whether they remain at largo in Russian territory or have the misfortune to fall again into tho hands of their former oppressors, tho Czechs who passed from the Austrian to tho Russian lines will assuredly bo no great acccssion of strength to the Central Empires. The samo no doubt holds good generally of the members of subject races taken from the enemy ranks_, and in tho aggregate they constitute a very largo proportion of the prisoners taken by the Russian armies.

Replying to a letter from tlio Wellington South Progrossivo Society urging that tho tramway time-tablo should bo amended so that tlio Island Bay, Lyall Bay, and Newtown ears should not follow each other in olose succession, tlio City Council states that tho manager of tlio tramways cannot recommend any departure from existing arrangements.