PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 216, 31 May 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Though they have been.gallantly met from first to last, it is showii to-day that the Germans have been enabled to advance very rapidly in their forward drive from the Aisne and to gain a great deal of ground. On the right flank of their advance they have entered tho important town of Soissons, on the south bank of the Aisne, and on the other flank they are within a few miles'of, Reims, which also is visibly in danger of falling into their hands. In the centre the Allies, as information stands, are resisting attack on heights south of tlie Vesle,. the river five miles south of tho Aisne which the enemy was reported yesterday to have crossed. It is 'chiefly on the wings, where he was reported yesterday to op held in check, that the enemy is shown to-day to have made important progress. One message points'out that in the centre, where lie now stands south of the Vesle, the enemy has advanced over thirteen miles, but an approximately equal advance on his right flank was needed to _ give him Soissons; and the positions between tho .Aisnc-Veslo Canal and the heights of St. Thierry, in which, as news stands, the British are still resisting an advance on Reims, are approximately thirteen miles southeast of Craonne, the town which crowns the eastern extremity of the Chemin dc 3 Dames Ridge.

Advancing his wings in the manner described, the enemy lias widened his attacking front and made it more secure. Soissons and rleims arc- about 33 miles apart, and from Soissops to north of llcims the German line now runs almost straight. These developments speak for themselves as indicating tho power the enemy is now throwing into his attack. More promising features of tho situation arc that the enemy has not yet closely approached any vital line of communications or other strategic objective of first-class importance, and that the Allies have obviously not yet brought anything like their full available weight to bear. Speculations which.range from the possibility that the Gcrma,ns will be halted on or near their present line to the apparently extreme conjecture that they may be allowed to reach the Marne must be taken meantime for what they are worth. But, as a correspondent points out, though the Germans had an advantage' in being enabled to chooso the point of attack, the choice of a line of resistance will rest, with the Allies. ■ If the enemy has determined upon a maximum effort for victory in his present drive tho Allies are probably as well placed to deal with it in tho region south of the Aisnc- as on any other' part of the front, and probably they would much prefer this region as the theatre of a decisive struggle to either the Somme Valley or tne Flariders 'Plain.

Everything, now depends uppn the ability of the Allies to keep a sufficient force in rescrvo to cope effectively with the enemy's main attack when it develops, south of the Aisne or elsewhere. Whether they have such a reserve or not should appear in the comparatively near future, but such facts bearing upon the question as are in sight warrant a reasonably hopeful out-1 look. A striking indication of the lengths to which the Allies have i | gone in thinning their front—they can, of course, have done this with no other object than to accumulate a strong strategic reserve—is given' in the statement that the front of twelve miles from near Craounc to Bcvmcricoiirfc i was held by four British divisions which were reinforced ultimately, though not until the battle was well advanced, by a fifth—the celebrated Twenty-ninth Division of Gallipoli fame. The front allotted to the four British divisions served a vital purpose in covering tho _ flank/of the Chemin des Dames llidgc. ' In a stonewall defensive four times the force, or more, might easily have been devoted to a front of a dozen miles in such, an area. In the fact that it was hold by no more than four British divisions, and that each of these ' divisions has a magnificent fighting record, we have as much light as is likely to be east for the moment upon the plan to which the Allies, under General .Foch's leadership, arc \yorking. Tho quality' of the divisions suggests at least that a formidable attack was anticipated. That they were left to wage such an unequal battle plainly implies that in the region of the present battle at all events the Allies do not intend to use up their strength in clinging to positions which can lie spared, bit); will employ it in accordance with some bolder plan. The fact which stands out :nost clearly meantime is that in this battle the enemy has a local and overwhelming preponderance of numerical strength which is far ' from indicating tho balance of ' strength in the Western theatre as I a whole.

A. New Zealand soldier writing from Cairo on March 12 complains about the icngth ol time mails from Hie Dominion take lo reach Lg.vpt owing |„ (Jio ■„.',,. lice of sending I hem via Knglaiul. Tie records that n parly of twelve muses reached Cairo on tho day he wrote but no New Zealand niaii arrived with them. Iho latest, mails (from hero* received in rgypt were dated December .1, yet the nurses he mentioned did not leave Australia until January %, <J, o wiii"' 'n n . advantage was not taken ol sniuijii" '■! mail via. Australia The practice" of Bonding nails via England means that letters from New Zealand take three months to reach Egypt,

The Finance Committee reported to tho City Council hist evening that they had received a renewed application from the lessees of tho City Corporation Endowment Block at Paiiiatua for tho sale to the lessees of the' freehold of the land. The committee said that they would rc]K>rt further on tho matter at a later stage.

The City, Council decided last evening that taxi-cab licenses and certificates of competency be not granted to hctsoiis who aro blind in one eye. A cablegram hns been received by tho United States Consul-General, Mr. A. A. Winslow, from the Department of State, Washington, advising that the importation of all articles mentioned on tho latest list of restricted imports had now been entirely prohibited, with tho exception of animal oils. .This list includes several articles formerly exported from New Zealand to tho States, tho chief item being rabbit-skins. The latest figures available show that in 1910 closo on six million skins, of a total vnluo of over were exported from this country, largely to the United States. Mr. Winslow stated that tho, latest regulation had 'doubtless been made to conserve shipping space for Australian wheat, the United States being nl: present urgently in need of supplies, owing to immense shipments having been made lo Europe. Over 100,000 tons of shipping had recently been purchased by the shipping authorities from Japan, on the understanding that all return cargoes would consist of Australian wheat. Tho master of a vessel which recontlv arrived in Auckland, with over 8000 lons of. general freight, stated that the United States Shipping Board would only supply freight on a similar understanding.

Them wero fewer alarms of lire given ir. Wellington during tho year ended March 111 than for any year during the i.nst decade. During tho past few years Wellington is said to have been one of Ihe most lucrative cities in Australasia for insurance companies.

The following bodies have linen added to the approved list of societies controlling war funds:—Wellington Federation of War Relief Societies' Advisory Board, Wellington Navy League, Ladies' Auxiliary Comforts fund. Olaki Sub-Centre Women's National Reserve, Wangaimi Sub-Centre Women's National Reserve, Wnnganui Navy League Lntlirs* Auxiliary Comforts t'und, vVanganui Returned Soldiers' Club Fund, Carterton Navy League, Ladies' Auxiliary Comforts Fund, Wairarapa Returned Soldiers' Club Fund,

, Ihe Canterbury Red Cross Society yesterday voted £l2a towards tho cost of erecting workrooms' at Rotoruiv for the functional treatment of wounded soldiers. —Press Assii, Tho third annual naval church parade in connection with Umpire Sunday is to be hold in the Town Hall on Sundnv afternoon. The officiating- clergymen will be Captain-Chaplain Taylor and Captain G. Knowles Smith.