CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 67, 18 November 1915, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The Greeks seems more and 'more to be getting a touch of the might of . the Nation they haye fooled, and strong arq evidently to lie taken at once. .Paris reports (that the French newspapers proclaim i ijhe Biitish in hojdjng up ninety .Greek .. ships. There .is something of a..very alarming apd sen-sational, nature going on in the Balkans, and the outside world is only given an inkling regarding it by the repdrt of the seizure these ships.' It would he’ interesting to learn wfaat 1 these 1 ships have as cargoes. However, if the report is true, it is a sign that the pressure on Greece is being screwed and with , plenty of screw at that. It seems now that they are pro-German, and their time-gaining scheme is to be ended.

The attention of the \yprlcl is primarily on the Balkan sphere, and the issue of the tangle which the Aljies apparently intend, to, cut, is he<fOin•ing more,. ( tangled by dealing with a tangled, people. The , other spheres, nevertheless, supply news that is most,. important and cheery £.O us. The Russians, particularly haye made a advance, and a report has it that they have forced Hindenhurg to evacuate Mitau with a idss ot 50,000 men and much material. Though the news has not been officially confirmed, yet it discloses that the Russians intend to make the Russian winter a very hot one for the Germans. A heavy fight is mentioned in the south on the Styr, where the enemy by the use of their massed artillery are endeavouring to break the Russian line. The reason ■for such an attempt that will surely fail ultimately is to influence Roumania, whose border is close at hand, and incidentally a fresh army ready to pounce on the loser.

The discussion of peace terms is certainly premature and undesirable from the Allies’ point of view, but an indication of what are called “the only possible terms’’ are given in an article in the Daily Chronicle by the Right Hon. Mr Masterman. He says that, unofficially interpreted, Mr Asquith’s ideals are:—The restoration of Belgium, an idemnity, the rebuilding of her turned cities, revival of industries, ami compensation for lici disabled warriors and the relatives of her dead. France is to receive Alsace and Lorraine, an indemnity, and her natural defensive boundary, nonmark is to receive Schleswig-Holstein and all German, Austrian and Russian Poland shall he united under the Czar or his noininee. Italy is to get Trentino and all Italia Irredenta. The Turkish Empire is to be totally dismembered, and her people taught to .work and nqt to massacre. Serbia is to he restored with the addition of Bosnia and Herzegovinia, with adequate access to the Adriatic. The enemy fleets are to surrendered and divided between the Allied nations, while the Zeppelins are to he burnt, and German colonies to remain as trophies for those who captured them. Of course this is what everyone wants, but the terms mean that Germany is to be absolutely rendered helpless before she will accept such terms. It is noted that no mention is made of the Kaiser, who has been found guilty of murder and other crimes. Perhaps carte blanche will he given to the one who can .catch him, and the vengeance such as every Britisher would wreak upon him will not he the subject of an inquiry.

Mention has been made in the cables of the pending invasion of German East Africa) by 25,000 Africanders under General Smuts. This means that a somewhat- desultory campaign that has beeirgoing on there for some time past is to be pushed ahead, with, we hope, the same expedition and thoroughness* .asf■ the: South West African campaign, which wasi so brilliantly brought to a- splendid -close by General Botha German East Africa has an area of 363,270 square miles, of which there is a preponderance of arable and pasture land. The principal port is Bar-es-i Salaam. The'Exports annually reach -.the neighbourhood of £750,000, and the imports about £1,750,000. The products consist mainly of rubber, coprh, ivory, coffee and wax. The colony is administered by an imperial governor. There are some 400 miles of railway constructed or under construction. The native population is over 10,000,000, while there are about 3,756 whites. The operations against German East Africa have been directed so far from British East Africa, which is north of the German territory. The campaign has heeii a series of give-and-take i fighting, and 1 really ' nothing decisive has been done by either party. Both forces have used mostly native troops, except that the British have employed numbers of Indian trops. The British hold an important strategic point in the island of Zanzibar, which is only ( a few miles off the coast of German East Africa, and which will form an ideal base for operations against Dar-es-Salaam and the interior railway. When the 25,000 Africanders are on the spot with the troops there already, some hard fighting will he in store for them, hut they should have no difficulty in making the place British. ,