The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1918. CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 222, 7 June 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1918. CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

The Supreme War . Council has chosen its moment, well to issue an authoritative review of the military situation and the prospects it holds. No one imagines that the ordeal of stemming the German offensive is over, but events since it was launched eleven weeks ago have in a very definite sense tested the enemy's striking power and the ability of tho Allies to cope with his desperate , bid for victory. Grounds for confidence already appeared in the' magnificent valour with which, in one battle after another, the Allied troops have made head against, tho onset of superior enemy numbers, but only those to wiioip the.inner facts of the war are visible are , in a position to estimate the full significance of the events of these critical weeks. Made as it is with the authority which complete knowledge confers, the statement of tho Supreme War Council will fortify confidence in all Allied countries. ■ It is above all valuable and to tho point as a firm assurance to France that her heroic efforts and sacrifices will not be made in vain, and that Germany's hammer-blows, formidable though they may be,' will not achieve tho result at which she aims. It is to Franco that thought inevitably turns at this stage of tho war.. Subjected as she is to a new and terrible ordeal after enduring for nearly four years the , horrors .of war with an enemy on her soil, her people and armies would bo more than human if they did not' stand in need of all the moral as well as material support their Allies can afford. There is no doubt that 31. Clbjienceau was thinking of his own country rather than'of the Allies as a group when he said, as he is reported to-day: "Germany's attitude is to terrorise us. • If we stand fast success is ours. While the German effectives arc exhausting themselves the. Americans are arriving in ever-in-creasing numbers." This is a frank recognition of issues far more vital than any movement of armies, and it implies amongst other things that the confident declaration of the Supremo War Council will servo no better purpose than in conveying hope and comfort to the sorely-tried French nation. France is far from having shown any sign of failing courage or resolution, but under such a strain as she is called upon to bear, and must expect to boar probably for many weeks to come, even the most heroic nation needs an assured outlook and the support ivhich only such an. outlook can give. As an assurance to Franco and to all the Allied nations that they are not fighting in vain, the statement of the Supreme War Council carries conviction. Surveying the situation and outlook not only in light of the battles that have been fjougbi, but with due. regard to tlic resources available on cither side and the speed at which they are capable of being developed, the Council is convinced that the Allies are capable of withstanding the enemy's attacks and bringing him in the end to defeat. Nothing in its survey is of better promise than the references made to unity of command and the complete confidence expressed in General Foch. The Allies arrived tardily at the-'deci-sion to organise their armies as a single force, and the final step would perhaps not have been taken but that imminent and overshadowing danger made it imperative. It is so much tho more a matter for satisfaction that the Council is able to state that the arrangements for unity of command have greatly improved the position of the Allied armies and aro working smoothly and successfully. The statement means not only that the Allies were wise to appoint a supreme commander, even at the eleventh hour, but that General Focii and the Allied commanders 'working with him are to bo credited with a masterly feat of organisation. The time of transition from national to united command was one of deadly danger for the Allies, and presented the enemy _ with an opportunity which happily will never recur. So far as organisation in its larger

aspects in concerned—and ifc is a factor of capital importance—the Allies arc now in the best possible state to meet whatever he may attempt. One other fact of first-class importance is brought out in this authoritative military survey. The Council states that thanks to President Wilson's prompt and cordial co-operation, the arrangements for the transportation and brigading of Americans will prevent the enemy wearing out the Allied reserve before the exhaustion of his own. To say that the Allied armies arc assured" of reinforcements adequate to meet any demand that can now be foreseen and that they are efficiently organised, under a unified command is to set out the essential _ heads of a military situation which gives every ground for reasonable confidence.

_ The point to which all consideration of the subject. must return is that in the last analysis the factor upon which the fate of the' war depends is the resolution of the Allied nations. Since of these nations France, excepting only the little countries that have been overrun, has the heaviest trials to endure and the most difficult part to play, it follows that the enemy's essential object in his offensive is" liot merely to divide the Allied armies and gain the Channel coast, though he ainis aI. these things as means to an ciid, but io destroy the resolution and fortitude of the French nation. M. Clemenceau has emphasised this fact not once but many times, but, in doing , so, he has been able always to proudly affirm that France will meet every demand and spare no effort until victory is attained. His attitude is crystallised in the- following passage taken from a speech which he made in the Chamber of Deputies at the end of April on the occasion of a Socialist interpellation:—

. . . Among our acls, J. defy you fo him a single one that is not inspired by this one thought—to safeguard the integrity of tho French people's heroic spirit. . . . There may be circles in iviuch it lias becorao more difficult than before. Thero is tho excuse of fatigue and evil words and the talk of enemy agents—tho excuse of German propaganda. , But, in spite of all, the moral of the French people is unchangeable— and civilians are not inferior to poilus. Ah! I; too, have tho desire of peace, and everybody desires it. ■ Ho would be a great criminal who had any other thought—but; we must know what we want. It is not "by bleating for peace thot we can silence- Prussian militarism. My foreign policy and my home policy are all one—foreign policy, the war!— homo policy, tho war!—always Iho war! Kussia, betrays us—l go on with, ihe'war. Rumania is forced to go on with the war. And I shall keep on to the last quarter of an. hour—for it is ive who shall have the last quarter of an hour!

At bottom the enemy's progress in his offensive is measured not by his progress towards Amiens or the Channel ports, or his drive to the Marnc, but by his success or failure in wearing clown the moral resolution of the IJrcnch nation. Accepting this standard it may bo asserted with all confidence that the -enemy is infinitely farther from his goal than mere study of the warmap might seem to suggest. It is very necessary that the French na tion and armies should bo heartened by every means at command, and the statement of the. Supreme War Council will contribute valuably to this end. No one can doubt that with ultimate victory assured France will endure the last grim ordeal of the war in such a spirit as to finally justify, the proud declaration that she is unconquerable. Time- will give the Allies the material predominance which spells victory. Now and for a little time to come their sheet-anchor must be.the fortitude of the French nation.