The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1918. AN IMPROVING OUTLOOK

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 163, 30 March 1918, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1918. AN IMPROVING OUTLOOK

— <h 'Ovt of the mass of news .which, has accumulated owing fcrthe Easter 'break 'in , publication, the fact stands very clearly that the tremendous battle in France upon which so much depends is going well for the Allies. Official and other reports make it manifest that, after six days . o f unprecedented effort and unsparing sacrifices the Germans were as far as ever from achieving the mam objects with which they launched their drive. Under the severest tests of the battle the Franco-British Armies have maintained a firm and unshaken front, and their resistance is growing stronger hour by hour, while the enemy's efforts show a distinct tendency to fail. Successful counter-attacks in the valley of the Soinmc and elsewhere have contributed materially to the enemy's discomfiture, and according to the ■ latest • reports in hand his advance is arrested on all parts of the battlefront. This state of affairs in itself marks a great achievement, particularly by the British armies which have thus tar borne the'brunt of the fighting, but it is not merely from a negative standpoint "that the outlook is improving. It is even more important that--while the enemy is. rapidly, using up his available. reserves in ! his vain attempts to break through the Allied line, and- is already well past the point at which, he could, make free use of' reinforcements of fresh troops, the Allies are. muchless heavily involved. They have opposed the mighty German thrust in relatively light force, and are still in a position to cinptoy the bulk ot their reserves where they will tell with maximum effect. The enemy s total failure to pierce the. I ranco-■.-Eritisn front, the collapse of his attacks at vital points, and the increasing disadvantage at which he stands in the matter of reserves are the' commanding -features of the battle at the stage covered in today's reports. . Looking at the late course of events, it willbe seen that the enemy is still doggedly concentrating upon j an attempt to interpose between the French and British forces. His attacks upon the British lines covering Amiens and upon the French in the southern area of the battlefield are, of course, part and parcel of the same general plan. Aocording to the latest reports in hand the enemy is at a standstill both east and south-east of Amiens, and the Allies arc holding this vital_ junction—an indispensable link in the railway communications' between Flanders' and Northern France and the country to the south—by a safe margin. Attacking the British in the Somme Valley, the enemy has not only been checked, but has been thrust back over a distance of several miles by counter-attacks. Subsidiary attacks on north and south equally failed, and the Germans are at a stand about 16 miles from Amiens. In their onslaught on c the French, further south, they gained somo preliminary success. After a desperate conflict our Allies fell back upon the heights westward of the railway junction of Montdidier, where they are reported now to bo making head against the enemy s utmost efforts to dislodge them. At Montdidier the enemy is about seven milc3 west of tho lino on which the French were established prior to the Battle of the Somnie. The town stands 21 miles south-east of Amienn, on one of the railways connecting that place with Paris, but in the order of battle just described it is, of course, effectually commanded by the French artillery. The enemy's objectives are in plain sight, and it.

is evident that if ho were in condition to continue his drive at anything like its opening pace, the position of the Allies would speedily become critical. But there is much in the existing situation to suggest that the enemy's prospects of striking an effective hlow are waning and to open totally different possibilities.

The momentous battle which has reached the stage just outlined was opened at the enemy's initiative, but it is at least exceedingly doubtful if he in any real sense still holds the initiative. The supremely important factpr is that of reserves. The only course open to the onciny if his efforts are to be crowned with success is to continue his offensive in such power and vigour as to derange the Allies' counter-plans and overwhelm their resistance. Already there is fairly plain evidence that it is beyond his power to continue on these lines, but any slackening in his efforts will undoubtedly involve him in increasing perils. We are told to-day on sound authority that the opposing armies are in approximately equal strength. In light of that fact what is made known about the rapid exhaustion of the German reserves in contrast with the economical methods pursued by the Allies is particularly encouraging. Tho enemy's prospects are darkened first and foremost because he has been successfully opposed and now brought. to a halt by forces numerically very greatly, inferior to those employed in his drive, and because these inferior forces have subjected him to losses out of all proportion greater than their own. Even from this restricted point of view Hindenbuhg must expect mattors to go from bad to worse since the Allies have reached a line which gonerally lends itself admirably to defence, and is backed by excellent communications, while the German attacking armies have now n, wide extent of devastated and battle-torn country behind them. But, assuming that the Allies have approximately, the same aggregate strength at command as the enemy, the existing state of affairs manifestly offers them a better and larger opportunity than that of decisively checking the- enemy drive. They have the opportunity of developing a powerful attack upon tho enemy in areas widely removed from that in which he is desperately striving to support and maintain an offensive which has manifestly lost much of its initial momentum. All available evidence on this point is of good promise. It is stated that Hindenbuko is now thrusting forward divisions which had already been shattered in the earlier stages of the battle, and also that he is drawing heavily upon his armies in Flanders and Lorraine, just such areas as the Allies might select for a counteroffensive. On the other hand, all reports agree that the Allies have great reserves yet to drawn upon, Indeed, tho fact is. not in any sense in doubt. The German drive was stemmed and broken by about a third of the total British strength, and) it is only in the later days of the battle that the French have been heavily engaged. Hindbnburg undoubtedly made a gambler's throw which could have been justified in no other way than by speedy success, and which, if it fails, must lay tho German armies in their turn dangerously open to attack. At the some time it should bo noted that the Allies will not nccossarily be. impelled to strike their counter-blow-with any undue haste. So long:as. tho onemy is held in check and prevented by a- firm and economical defence from reaching any vital objective, a state of affairs in which ho is compelled to mass an ever increasing proportion of his strength on one comparatively short section of the Western front and to correspondingly denude its remaining length is one they can well afford to prolong.