The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1918. THE WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 May 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1918. THE WAR.

(With which is incorporated The £«i" nape Post and Waluwuwo News)..

Since Germany suffered severe deleft in' Fianaers, several attempts have been made to resume the offensive in that quarter. In two instances her concentrations were rendered innocuous by superior Britisn artillery, the third managed to get into tn« front trenches, but they have since been driven out, and the position reestablished. There is no doubting tne fact mat Hinaenourg niarsnalied his forces tor uis greatest possime effort two monuis a&o. That ehort me: with such an unexpected success that Germany became obsessed with a delirium of surprise and the wildest jubilation. By some yet to be explained defection a length of the British line gave way, offering but little resistance —so little that even Chinese workers behind the line rushed in with their shovels and any other weapon at nana and bravely met the German hordes as they rolled on through the gap. Germany regained in a marvellously short time territory that it had taken British and French many months to capture. The aftermath of this is the Maurice scandal. The whole world was aghast at the failure to hold the enemy, as it-had been freely bruited about that the Allies awaited the great offensive with the utmost confidence. Now, we know that German success was not entirely owing to superior strength, but to a lapse of some sort in the defence. While the disturbed morale of the Allied armies was at its zenith the Germans made a surprise attack with similar force to that used at the Somme in Flanders, but despite the giving way of a section of the line held by the Portuguese it was a most disastrous venture for Germany. The appearances are that no greater force can be hurled against the Allies than that of the initial desperate effort to separate British from French and cut off the whole British army to destroy it. Operations of more recent date have mostly been favourable to the Allies, and both British and French have retaken Important positions all along the whole front. The British Military Mission now in America insists that another great sustained enemy offensive is on the tapis. Very little news of such an effort is coming from France; raiding and minor operations are daily proceeding as though nothing further was projected. There is talk of lull before the storm intermingled with accounts of successful attacks by Australians, French and Americans,, in which the lull aspect seems to be quite overshadowed. Despite appearances, however, it is patent to all the Allies that for Germany to stand still is to be defeated. It is almost an impossibility for an army of striking magnitude to be kept, fed and munitioned in the positions occupied for any length of time, and we may rest assured they will not be idle for a day longer than can be helped. The blow Will come, but what concerns us is can it be in greater force than the initial thrust, or, with a better experienced defence, can it repeat the Flanders success? The chances seem to be against Hindenburg. Foch is supremely confident; he prefers his position to that of the German from a purely military standpoint; his confidence is shared by his officers and by the various Allied governments. That does not mean that the next offensive is going to terminate in a debacle for Germany; it simply means that with the bitterest struggle the Allies will maintain an attritive attitude, killing men and holding ground so long as the slaughter is two to one in their favour, for'it is lives and not ground that counts with Foch, who is still building up his reserve, awaiting the time when his attritive operations shall have accomplished their purpose. The American army, of which we receive most conflicting accounts respecting the number already in France, will then have a practical military value, and then will follow the sensational advance of the Allies that Foch is so determinedly preparing for. Germany sees this day coming and hoped to have discovered new recruiting fields that would enable him to meet it, but his people were so hungry that food was more essential than men. Wherever Germans have invaded in the Bast they are hated, as"" being thieves and robbers, but it Is purely a case of "necessity knows' no law," and they have to go on killing and robbing to keep alive their own armies and subjects. In Germany's evil day, in the dilemma thas is to come, vengeance against the Hun marauders in the countries they are now robbing and plundering will be taken with ad-

ded interest. The Bussian success is only of a temporary character; the people will rise with merciless anger and kill or drive out everything bearing a German appellation, nothing is more sure. The. Georgians have already vowed to sacrifice everything if needs be in avoiding the Hun scourge, and the Georgians only voice the feelings of most other Asiatics. In Italy, it seems there is comparative quiet; Germany cannot spare either men or guns to go on punitive expeditions there, and Foch has testified to this idea by calling two hundred thousand Italian soldiers to swell his reserve in France. In Mesopotamia remarkable success is achieved. In Palestine British arms are adding new territory to their gains almost daily, but there is an atmosphere of perplexity pervading the Palestine campaign, and we are inclined to think there is just a suspicion of a marking-time attitude. The British in Mesopotamia are fast approaching Mosul, on the main railway line from Bagdad to Constantinople, and present appearances are that British plans provide for a junctioning of the Mesopotamian forces with those in Palestine at Aleppo. The munitioning difficulty in Turkey must now be very acute, and with the work Turkish armies have nearer home their resistance against the British cannot stop the great meeting of British armies at Aleppo. In the Balkans just enough rattling of guns is being made by British and Greeks to keep the Bulgars fearsome, and so busy that none can be spared to help the AllHighest in France. It is on the Western front the battle of jthe nations will be decided, and the result of the next blow of the reputed uplifted arm of Germany will, when the confusion clears away, enable us to see the future more clearly.