The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1917 1918.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 341, 28 December 1917, Page 2

The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1917 1918.

"We nothing attenuate, nor let down auaht in noNce."

In sending out our usual New Year greeting to our readers we propose to face fairly and squarely the international situation and to try to gather from a calm and dispassionate review of the circumstances some clear idea as to how we stand towards the winning or losing of the great conflict which can only end in the triumph of humanity and civilization or the destruction of libeity in the hellish furnace of German military despotism. We put it thus plainly and baldly because there is no middle road. We must either beat the enemy to his knees or be crushed ourselves. The " inconclusive peace " we hear spoken of so often would not be a peace but merely an armistice to enable the exhausted combatants to get their second wind. It is a struggle to the death between the Anglo-Saxon and the Teuton races and to bHnk this obvious fact is as futile as it is flangerous. That there is a certain amount of depression and pessimism prevalent is regrettable but hardly strange. But we are of opinion that its cause is attributable to other origins than a well-reasoned examination of the military situation. Business worrits, the cost of living, the certainty that the war will last at least another year, and, greater than all, the absence ] and danger of so many of our loved ones, account for most of it. It is a dangerous frame of mind for people to allow themselves to get into and should be com-. batted by all «ith courage and resolution. For it is certain there is nothing at present in the military or naval situation to cause undue alarm. Russia is " down and out " we admit. The hopes we so long cherished that some day she! would really strike effectively!

have crumbled,—but have we ever had much more than unfulfilled hopes from fcer ? The invasi on of East Prussia and the drive < >f the Austrians in the early days ctf the war were of value undoubtedly, but for two and a hali* ye.irs Russia has been little mom than an anxiety and a worry to us—a sink for our money, munitions and guns. Would we be amy the better off if we still belie* ed in a chimera that would never, be fulfilled, or is it preferable 4o know the worst and be prepat ed for it ? And are there not still possibilities that the southei -n Russians, stiffened and encouniged by the gallant Roumanian s, may yet be of service to us ?

The danger upon the Italian front, not so long ago pressing and |rnt minent, appears to have passed. Treachery and deceit succeeds 4 for the moment in paralysing the courage of onr impulsive southern Allies, but the, immediate support given to them by Englisl i and French troops has been effective and the oncoming tide of the .enemy has been stayed. The Germans cannot afford to admit their defeat, so it is probable that fresh assaults will be made upon the Italian position, but it seems likely that they will find it merefly a fresh Verdun and that the enormous masses of men they have lost have been saerr* ficed in vain.

Ut the two Infallible methods Germany had for bringing England to her knees one has been an absolute and the other a comparative failure. The Zeppelin menace has passed, bringing no military advantage to the enemy but a grait and immediate one to us in tlie scones of thousands spurred to» action by the tactics of the baby-killers. The submarine menace is scotched but not killed. Our ship-iuilding is now overtaking our losses, and the fear that England might possibly be starved into submission is more remote than it was a year ago. That there is a need for management in the distribution of food is due more to a generous care for the needs of our allies and a somewhat foolish susceptibility towards the feelings of neutrals than to an inability to import. And as a means of whittling away the strength of our Fleet until the German Navy was a match for what remained the submarine has entirely falsified the hopes the Huns built upon it.

In the far Bast the outlook is excellent. The fall of Jerusalem has had a moral effect upon the enemy far greater than its military or strategical value can account for. It is not very far from there to Damascus, the taking of which would cut the railway. In the meantime Egypt, of such vital importance to us, has been rendered as safe from assault by land as we made it long ago from attack by sea.

Upon the Western front, where it has always been dearly under* stood that the war must ultimately be lost or won, the position Is undoubtedly better than it was a year ago. Owing to the number of divisions the treachery of the Russians has released tor service in the west we have not 1 »een able to advance at the rate the great Cambrai push appeared to promise, but the so-called impregnable Hindenburg line has been broken. It appears improbable that any German advance can be made. In the meantime America is making great efforts to get ready for the renewal of fighting when the winter is over, and by April should have in the field a force of at least a million. Experts have tor a long time been of opinion that the final phase of the war will be settled by the aeroplane and the preparations the States is making for the use of this arm show that she is determined to be in at the death.

We can see no reason for feel, ing any doubt of the ultimate issue. Our losses have been heavy, but they probably have not exceeded one-fifth of the German losses—are certainly less than one-fourth. Heavy demands will be made on our soldiers, buf they will not falter,, and we ought not to damp their ardour by allowing any discouragement to affect us. The mettle of Drake and Nelson, of Give, and of the most typical Englishman of all, Alfred, still inspires our fighting men, and we who stay at home should endeavour to exhibit the same dauntless spirit. .

We believe that nothing does more to banish the feeling of pessimism than to be up and doing, especially to be doing something to help on the war. •'This is the time," said the Prime Minister at Waiuku re* cently, * for every man and woman in the country to work to win the war eight hours a day for six days a week." If his advice were gradually followed pessi-

mists would become so rare that specimens would be sought after to place in our museums. We trust that in the New Year, upon the threshold of which we are now treading, our people will take heart and put forth the last ounce of their strength in an united effort to win, and they will find their courage and serenity of mind growing in exact proportion to their exertions, until the longed-for day when the winter of our discontent is made glorious summer by the sun of Victory.