Britain Approaches Compulsion

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 24, 3 May 1916, Page 5

Britain Approaches Compulsion

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The tone of the news from the Western front to-day is cheery. Satisfactory work was done by the artillery on the various sectors in dispersing arid harassing the enemy, hut, what is best of all, there are signs of a French offensive on both the east and west banks of the Meuse. On Monday evening they briskly attacked south-east of Fort Douaumont, on the east of the river, and the Germans' front trench on a front of about 500 metres was occupied, 100 prisoners being taken; then, again, as the result of attacks on Saturday and Sunday, on the slopes north of Mort Homme, on the west. side of the river, they gained a front of about 1000 ' metres of enemy trenclies to a depth : of between 300 and 600 metres. That oil both sides of the Meure the'French have taken the 'offensive ' appears : t'6 confirm the 'report' "that' the Germans' have given up hope for the time being of capturing Verdun, hut the reports of the concentration of many of the enemy troops and the alleged statements of their determination to take the fortress at any cost may' still 'be worth while considering. Still, this is a matter for those on the spot, and because the French have been able, even temporarily for that matter, to enter the enemy's territory* there is room for a reasonable amount of congratulation.

.i, Jt, may. be , that the French were therein assisted by the force of Russians, which larded at Marseilles last month, and if so, their presence is being felt, to some purpose. But .there, the cry is still for .more men, and today, the cables state that the third convoy of Russians has landed at Marseilles. This is good business. Even supposing that the French are really in need of this support, it is very gratifying to know that our Russian Allies can spare these forces. The British have raised an army of live millions since the commencement of the war, said Mr Asquith in the House of Commons yesterday, but still our trouble is men. In Russia it is not the men, but their equipment and the necessary munitions. In this, the coordination of the Allies in a common purpose and for a specific object will soon, prove what a splendid move has been made. If it dees nothing else, the presence of the Russians on the French front will make the Germans put on their 'thinking caps—they now know what they are up against on the Eastern front in the coming campaign. The least of their troubles will not be the want of men-targets to direct their guns against. Whether the Russians reached France via Archangel, which course was advocated in this column last month and which, by the way, was the opinion (unofficial of course) of the Minister of Defence himself when he was in Stratford at the time—or whether they came from Vladivostock in the ships returned by Japan to Russia is still open to question. "Quantam sufficit" appears to be the motto of every good censor, so,let it rest at that.

The Greeks seem to be in a bad way, indeed. ' They object to the use of the railways for the transit of the Serbian Array to Athens, and are threatened bv the Central Powers should they give permission, while Bulgaria has made an incursion into her territory ami carried off quite a number of the inhabitants. To-day it is stated in tin cables that fifty of these notables hay? been shot. For what? As a casus belli, this would be sufficient for any Nation with a backbone little better than « jelly-fish, but Greece is the limit iti international shuffling. Touching on the question of the use of the railways by the Allies, it is suggested that tinrequest for the railways was only a bluff, with which to put the submarines of the enemy off the scent of the transports. Indeed, if memory serves threader right, he will recollect that there was something iu the cables a week or so ago referring to an inspection by the officer in charge at Salonika of the newest addition to the Army there, in the shape of the resuscitated Serbs. The danger of submarines is very great, it will be admitted, but in this case Allied diplomacy appears td have been mpre than a match for the onemv submersiMes.

i What would wo do without the Navy? Not a day passes but some of its work has to be recorded. The budget today has several items referring to this, the first, line of defence and offence in the Empire. We read of a British submarine operating to some effect in the Sea of Marmora, where she settled a Turkish transport full of troops, who, no doubt, were on their way to assist in the campaign in Asia Minor. On the other hand, there are some small losses to be booked to the enemy, who, through tho practice of sowing mines, managed to get an arntod yacht and a mine-sweeper in the Mediterranean. These losses can never be guarded against, and are always to be expected, •and it is a source of much credit that so few casualties have had to be chronicled by the Navy up to date. '

A 'recent cable,,, stated .that' the' French had occupied, "Makli"' and were fortifying it and making it , a naval' base. The correct spelling of the place is Makri, which is a town .in y\sia Minor on the south-west coast,. fifty miles north-east of the'historic iihind of Rhodes, in the Mediterranean. It "would seem that the reported binding !of French forces in the Gulf of Adalia several months ago was incorrect, or else that the gulf as a naval base has had to give place to Makri. From this quarter, the Allies will be able to keep an eye 'on the enemy inland and also scour the 'inlets of the innumerable isles in these waters for submarine bases.

In ancient".times Rhodes (Rhodos) was one of l he most celebrated States of Greece, and distinguished above all others by its wealth, commerce, and naval power. It was' among the last which yielded to the Roman arms, and was oven "allowed to enjoy the forms of liberty till the reign of the Roman Emperor Vespasian* 1 in the first century. In the Middle Ages, in 1310, 'he island became one of the latest retreats of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who baffled the efforts ol Mahomet "11., the conqueror of Constantinople, and the Knights were not reduced by Solman the Groat till 1022, after one of the most memorable sieges in history. In Rhodes, the capital of the island a great explosion of powder in 1856, caused by a flash of lightning, destroyed the old Church of St. John, the chief public buildings, and about 1000 houses, and again in 1863 an earthquake destroyed about 2000 houses. Rhodes itself is one of the most splendid and renowned cities of antiquity Here stood the famous Colossus, a statue of Helios, the Greek god of the Sun the worship of whom was common in' Greece, particularly in Rhodes. The statue is in bronze, 100 feet high, and was reckoned to be one of the seven wonders of the world.

General Maxwell, who is in command of the troops operating in Ireland against the rebels, speedily settled the outbreak by his firmness and the severe measures initiated at the outset. His proclamation, giving the rebels the option of sun-ending before further extraordinary methods wore put in hand, had the desired effect. Major-General Maxwell was in charge of the operations in Egypt when the Australian and New /calami Army Corps landed there. ' He entered the Army 37 years ago at the age of 20, and saw active service in the Egyptian war of 1882, the Nile Expedition in 1884-5, and was in command of the Second Egyptian Brigade at the battle of Omdurman. He fought til rough the second Boer war, acting as Military Governor of Pretoria for a year. In 1908 he was appointed to the Kgyptain command and held it till 1912, retiring on the outbreak of war and remaining in command in Egypt till Major-General Murray took over the forces of the Mediterranean.