THE WAR REVIEWED.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 May 1918, Page 2

THE WAR REVIEWED.

covETcNoit oraraui-s cable. [PER TRESS ASSOCIATION. —COPYRIGHT.) WELLINGTON, Ala^9. The following is a telegraphic summary of war news received by the Governor-General from the Secrotar4 of Stato for the Colonies.— The growing unrest among tlio subject- nations of the Austrian Empire is becoming too strong for the Government at Vienna, and t-ho Emperor impelled by the instinct- of self-pre-servation, has taken further steps on the road to subjection to Germany, though the terms of the new alliance are not yet public, a A'ienna. telegram refers to its extension and deepening. Even if the Austrian Emperor, one time desired to escape from German control, ho is powerless to do so since the interests of the Hapsburgs are bound up with the predominance of I Gorman and Alavgar land-owning classes. The emancipation of the subject races can onlv be achieved with help from without. AH the .Allies will work in eo-operation to satisfy their just claims. Tn Germany itself reactionary foreps are still rampant. The . Prussian Lower House rejected equal franchise. In a bye-election in Saxony an Independent Socialist lost' the seat, and twelve members of the Minority Group have been sentenced at Leipzig to penal servitude. Further aggressions of Germany in Russia have led to friction between the German Alission at Moscow, and the Russian Government, and the aggressions of Turkey in the long-oorct-ed Persian province of Azerbakuan arc causing alarm and rosenment to the Persian Government. Germany is now employing against Switzerland the same tactics as recently used against Holland. The British Alission which recently 1 arrived at Rio de Janeiro was much gratified by the cordial reception and warm welcome received. Operations on the Western Front for the week ending 16th May and k the second week passed with -»only minor -/Derations. There • are two points especially to be noticed in these. The first is that the local objective in each case is to seize the observation point. The. second point is that in each case of the enemy initiative the operation ended in complete ana costly failure. Even where as on the Voormoz'-lle and La Clytto front, he employed and sacrificed considerable bodies of fresh troops; lint each operatiin in- • itiated by the Allies, namely; At Locre. Alorlaneourt, and Givesnes ended in . sevelu complete successes. Tin’s is a sweeping statement, and the German . propagandists spare no words to prove the exact opposite; hut the map proves it. At no single point did the enemy gain his objective, or succeed in hold-ing-any local gain more than for a few hours.

The enemy protestations of Alliorl failures characterise every local gain by the French in the Locre sector, aa> the attempt to retake Kemmel an objective which, as the enemy knows to his cost, would call for an operation on a very considerable scale, and ■could not possibly be aimed at by a local effort. > The length to which the enemy publicists have gone in this perversion of the truth is powerful evidence of the necessity felt for concealing from the German people anything which may distract from their confidence in tho Army, which they are told is invincible but which they are beginning to suspect were better described as cannon fodder. Though minor operations hj£jte only been of local or tactical value, they have strategical significance indicating tho points where, the enemy is.prepared to incur considerable sacrifice thereby gain observation posts. From his persistence, we may start conclusions regarding the positions to which the enemy attaches special value for future purposes. While minor manoeuvres for positions have been taking place along' the front lines, it must not he forgotten that intense activity is continuous in the air services on both sides'. The Allies’ claim to supremacy, rests on more than mere urotection The cornuarative statement for tho ; month of April, 11)18, of the number of bombs dropped ny British airmen in France, and behind the enemy lines, and those dropped by the enemy in the area occupied by British troops shows that by day the British dropped 17.86", and the enemy 687; by night the British- dropped 6033, and the enemy 1346. The total for the British was 23,900 and for the enemy 2023. Th> evidence ; b provided by demoralised com ponies of German prisoners who. stated that oven when the enemy had with, drawn for a. rest, the British airmen allow them no peace. Oue prisoner described feelingly liow 24 of his com ■ rades were killed by a single British bombing attack on Bapaumo on the 30th of April. The fundamental cause which i< gradually; •disintegrating the Central Euronean Alliance, is the lack of food Little can be extorted from Germany's \Hies, some of whom are already experiencing actual starvation. To obtain grain elsewhere will • necessitate he using of force and of making furher demands on the troops. She caolot spare this and the exploitation of lcr Allies by Germany, for her own ■nds, to their detriment, sows seeds »f liseord among them. For two reasons Germany has been orced to seek a decision in the west is early as possible. Delay would inolve the risk of breaking up of iho tllian* e which she cannot afford. B>t ictory in the coming summer cam. coign ifiusi be absolute, or it will je worse than useless for German? rill bar- exhausted her reserves, whilst ven should the French and Briti-h ind 'Femselves, similarly reduced, : tmerie*o Army will fast be approach ng its 'zenith. By commencing prepartions Germany thinks she will be arthr o achieve a decisive victory within the

time limit The Allies are alreadv confident and with the infusion of the American troops whose first drafts are already ineor porated in the French and British divisions, they can withstand the full forte of the enemy assault until the American Army in the field has grown to the same proportions as those of the French and British. It is a question of time. Every day’s delay increases the strength of the American Axmy in France, and is bringing Germany nearer to the end of the time limit. In Mesopotamia. General Marshall is

advancing apace.. After occupying Kir. kuk lie pursued the Turks over Lessgnd and lus patrols arc now within <0 miles of Mosul. A flank _ column m moving up the Tigris from Tekrit, nu’» is co-operaling with the advance along tho caravan roads. Tho roads into Persia on this side are now blocked for the Turks, wherein lies the main . result of General Marshalls strategy. Tlio Air Ministry reports thnt German air prisoners recently captured show a noticeable falling off in morale, and make no attempt to deiiv our superiority in the air. There is great ae. rial activity on the Belgian coast particularly by our bombing machines. Tho coastal bases of Ostend and Zeebruggo are repeatedly attacked and the enemy harrassed in his endeavour to repair the damage ensured by tho recent successful naval operations . The food Ministry reports that live stock is coming forward more freely than anticipated, and the arrivals of the frozen meat have rendered a somewhat larger ration possible. The partial substitution of bacon for meat encourages tho hope that live stock in the country will be fairly well maintained. The cereal imports have now improved, but cheese is short, and this scarcity affects the workers’ food Queues have practically disappeared. An urgent problem is to secure sufficient supplies in the autumn, so as to avoid scarcity during the early part of next year.