The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1915. DIFFICULTIES OF THE ALLIES.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 August 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1915. DIFFICULTIES OF THE ALLIES.

Ju parts ul the .British Empire overseas we are sometimes inclined tu cavil at the apparently insufficient means pursued to cuinljat the offensive ul 'tlie German enemy on the eastern iiout in Europe. A dispassionate survey of the available information 111 lilts oi the London newspapers serves to give a different view m the ease so far as France is concerned, though the news leave the. inlereneo that Great Britain (possibly through causes unavoidable in the preliminary stages; lias done less than the occasion demanded. Writing on mis latter aspect of the ease, a London Times leader-writer remarks that it is ol lirst importance that Englishmen should constantly remember how small by comparison is the part our army has played even to the present day in the laud warfare on the Continent. We still hold a very small sector oi the front 111 France.and Flanders, and it liafc not increased in length for some time past. Wo aave to do lar more than we nave yet uone, if Ave are to bear our full share of the burden of overthrowing Uerniauy. We are not yet throwing into the scale the full strength of our manliood, and it is 110 answer whatever to say that wo are not exposed to the same neks or that we have done far more man avc undertook at the outset. We liave as )im.:li at stake as France, perhaps more, and for both of us the issue ol the war is vital. Our whole national existence depends upon the attainment of victory. and we are ligliting for England just as truly in the Pas de Calais as we should be on the soil ol Kent. .Great a-; our efforts and sacrifices have been, avo have still far to go before we can •afford to be satisfied.

In regard to France's endeavours to combat the enemy, an official report Jrom I'aris gives a convincing proof oi t'l-i great difficulties that colli'routed our ally in the earlier stages of the Mar. The report is one issued by the Comite des Forges de France, the body that represents and controls all the ironworks in France. it shows the extraordinary difficulties which the French arsenals and forges have had to face through being deprived of their regular supply of material. The first French department to fall into German hands was the -Uourthe-et-Aloselle. which contains the tamous iron deposits of Briey and produces nine-tenths of the total French output of iron, f'his district has been occupied by the enemy since the beginning of tlio war. Add to it certain other parts of northern and eastern France which are 111 possession of the Germans, and it is reckoned that the invasion has deprive 1 the French factories ol 80 per cent of the native supply of metals. France has managed to keep tier supply of war munitions going \vi£hou£ it. Fresh resources were discovered, new processes created, and every problem which arose was mot. There is a note of pride and deep patriotism in the report when it draws attention to this feat. "No more eloquent page, 'it says, "will ever be written in honour of private industry than the story of how the problem was faced. We shall see not only ho'w France once again upset the prophecies of the pessimists, but what surprising reserves of ingenuity. adaptability, and vigour our race possesses, when there is nothing to hamper it, and one appeals to its initiative and devotion to country."