CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 22, 31 December 1915, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

“Compulsion” is coming as sure as day follows night and really when one probes the matter it is hard to realise why it was not introduced earlier. In this great War the Allies are seeking to act uniformly and to use their respective resources to the maximum effect' And is this being done ? It is certainly not being done as long as France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, and Italy have compulsion in various degrees and Britain retains the voluntary system. The troops of these countries do not suffer in comparison in morale,' efficiency nor in material. The dash’ ! of theT French’ guided- by the btillianfcy of their leaders';; till© stubbbfh 1 / “hil ddsperkndUm” devotion of the'* itussiahs, the heroism of "Belgium and Serbia, and the enterprise of the 1 Italians, 1 all /that 7 are' hbt *a whit belbw the 'standard the : British'. : the cry' of the pressed'6l : an being ho 1 g6od is nbt one for noW. 'Pressed men! wbn : Trafalgar. The,ehdlbs s inbiit^ly l for men show 'that 1 thb Voluntary' system ‘fails and coni pulsion must 1 come; In New Zealand, we get daily appeals for men, and it looks as though shortly they will fail to have the necessary effect. Possibly a similar course will have to be adopted here. We must fall into line with the 1 Allies ‘if uniformity is to be gained. 9 »T I'/nlaiU •• i- 11 ‘ . ■'/ Mr .Jlaljcplm Ups* sepds a dong story about the withdrawal from Anzac. The men • evidently of opinion that the landing;was bad enough; .aihd> they feared that . a i withdrawal. would be worse, in' face of thei exposed beaches. The whole operation was Carried out without theTurks’ knowledge, and the mett were themselves surprised. Wonderful efficiency must base been gained by the troops, who were described by Admiral Roebeck as natural boat men.

The Japanese are arranging to send their mail steamers by the Cape route to avoid the Suez Canal. This may be merely a precaution agamst attack on the Canal or against the enemy submarines in the Mediterranean, but the congestion of ships at the Canal may be the cause of, the changing of thp route. The Japs lost one ship in the Mediterranean, and do not wish to take any risks. At any rate, their arrangement is another sign that the authorities fear trouble. In the Balkans, two items of interest are recalled. Firstly, the Roumanians are reported to have decided to side with the Entente, and will allow the Russian troops to cross her territory >f she does not take up arms with '(Russia. Confirmation is- necessary , But Russia is apparently making herself sure of the stand Roumania will take before sending in troops. The Montenegrins have scored a victory against the Austrians at Lepenatz, which Is a few miles inland from the border of the Austrian province of Novi-Bazar. The enemy losses were heavy. This victory will serve to give the plucky Montenegrins and Serbs, who also took part in the battle, encouragement and now hope. There are no Austrians in Montenegro. The men wfio commarid our fleets and those of the other ; fighting Powers are, queerly enough, a younger lot than those who command the armies. It might be argued that this is because a naval’s man’s life is a rough one even in peace time; whereas life in the army is generally considered fairly comfortable except in time of war. But a seafaring life is also a 1 healthy one. so there must be other reasons. At any rate, in spite of such patriarchs as Lord Fisher, who is 74. the admirals seem to be a fairly young lot on the whole. Admiral Jellicoe is 56. and the French Naval Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Ad-miral Dartjge de Fournet, is 59. ViceAdmiral Bacon, who ’ commanded the fleet that has been- worrying*the Belgian const, is 52, and his successor, Rear-Admiral Hood, is only 45. Vice-

Admiral de Robeck. in command of "tie British fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, is 53; Rear-Admiral \ aughan Lee, head of the naval air service, is under 50; and Rear-Admiral Sturdee is 56. Rear-Admiral Sir David Beatty is only 44; and the Duke d’Abruzzi, in command of the Italian fleet, is a boy of 42. Admiral La Gaze, the French Minister for Marine, is only 55 ; though Sir Henry Jackson, Britain’s First Sea Lord, is 60, and Gfahd Admiral von Tirpitz 66. Out of 30 rear-admirals in the French navy 11 are tinder 55, and two, including Rear-Admiral Ronarch, who with his marines' was of so much assistance in the first struggle in Flanders after ths nish ftp; the sesu are under ,50.