The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1916 WEARING DOWN THE ENEMY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 92, 15 November 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1916 WEARING DOWN THE ENEMY.

From the statements appearing in the Homo journals it is pretty evident that public opinion in England has accepted with equanimity the view that there is no use in idly speculating as to the duration of hostilities or trying to fathom how long it will lie before the Germans admit complete defeat. The feeling now is that there is but one thing to do: that is to bend (‘very effort to strengthen our great offensive and to put every energy into the work of winning the war no matter how long it may last. There is nothing in the vast national work Britain is now carrying out with splendid unity of spirit pervading all classes to indicate that the Government has any belief that there "'dl bo an early termination of the war. Much as the peace we are seeking for the world at large is desired, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that thoi enemy is by no means completely over-j thrown, and as Mr Lloyd George re-| cently said, until German militarism I is broken “there will be no quitters among the Allies.” It has been very well said that the real problems of today for Britain to face are those off men rather than munitions, becauseJ the splendid devotion of England’s 1 workers and those who have joined I the workers’ ranks to light the com-1 mon enemy, has enabled the output of munitions ot war to be thoroughly adequate. That we have the manpower in reserve is now coi tain. Major-General Maurice, chief of the military operations for the British Im-i perial Army Staff, recently said: “We| arc perfectly satisfied that the fighting is going well for ns at all points. The tide has turned strongly against the Germans. They realise that they afe past the zenith of their power. But their resources are still groat and the end is not yet in sight, but wo are now getting interest on the capital we invested during July and August. Our superiority in heavy artillery and in the air is constantly increasing. We are nowhere near our maximum. I ho Germans are not at all happy; they i me suffering from the strain just as we did when we were hanging on at Ypres; but then we bad the support of knowing that our potential resoulcos were great. Our position at the end of 1911 was something like theirs is now. but we knew we would grow stronger with time while the Germans realise they are past the zenith oi their power. The Germans pretend we j have failed and say our object was to ! break through, which we have not , done, i ‘I them find consolation in j, this if they can. Wo are perfectly

satisfied with our rate of progress. We never expected to break through and did not attempt it. They would like to have us make a big smash —to have our infantry advance beyond theJ range of our guns, to butt our heads I against a stone wall and suffer great _ casualties. No, our job is the process of wearing down and we don’t expect; any sudden collapse of the Germans. It is now a question whether their digging-in power is greater than our ability to advance. The faster wei advance, the less time they have to! entrench; thus fighting becomes morel and more in the open.” |