The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1918 STARTLING POSSIBILITIES.

Taihape Daily Times, 8 October 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1918 STARTLING POSSIBILITIES.

(With which is Incorporated The Tai* hape Post and Walnsarlao News).. -

The far-reaching nature of the brilliant victories gained in every theatre of war during the last few days are fully reflected in the Kaiser’s peace proclamation to his soldiers and sailors. It is an understandable unequivocal admission of sure and complete defeat of his war machine, and like us, though not in a similar spirit, and with similar hopes, ho is hourly expecting to ‘hear the news that his military machine is for ever wiped right out of the German landscape. On the west front Germans are hanging with desperation of despair to points that are essential to the escape of the greatest number possible from the Allied roping in scheme. Nevertheless, each day presents a terrible tally of some thousands of prisoners taken. Around Cambrai the slaughter is almost unbelievable, but Foch’s men are not waiting for Cambrai, they have passed on eastward and are threatening Le Cateau, a large town fifteen miles east of Cambrai. In the St. Quentin sector both French and British are about ready for the main thrust that is to precipitate a retreat everywhere, on country where there are no trenches, nothing more than the natural cover. Open fighting only will be possible, in which the superior morale and manpower of the Allies must inflict terrible punishment on the fleeing enemy. It is obvious that Foch intends that not a foot of either France or Belgium shall be in German possession when the climax of his offensive is reached; he is determined that the war shall go on to German territory,, winter or no winter, before his effort u eases. or even a dull in the fighting is permitted. The stricken war machine is to be allowed no time to recover, or even to breathe in; it is to be smashed now beyond all possibility of repair. Re : sponsible waT experts say we are oh’ • the eve of amazing posibilitics and :who can doubt’it when miles of defended country is captured in a few I hours resulting in over ten thousand ! prisoners being taken; all this with a j most gratifying disproportion of AlI lied casualties. The German Emperor secs the writing on the wall in lurid, dazzling letters, and he is seeking a way to laying the responsibility for accepting defeat on other shoulders than his own. He has taken his soldiers and sailors into his confidence, a veritable .confidence trick; he sees nothing ahead but unconditional surrender yet he dissimulates with soldiers to cozen them into taking the onus of accepting the defeat that is inevitable. He has not the courage to 'tell his men by proclamation that Germany is defeated and that further continuance of the war is nothing loss than a huge orgy of murder. He knows the Allies will not accept any German made terms of peace, and when the Allied reply conies he will tell his soldiers and sailors that it is yet possible > for Germany to win the war, but if they will accept unconditional surrender it must be" on their responsibility not on his. The Kaiser has withheld his proclamation till there is not one hope left to his military machine; till he feels sure that soldiers and sailors cannot be induced to continue the slaughter on its behalf, and he is sneaking out of his responsibility by trickery. In whichever war zone one’s eyes are turned is soon a campaign of trickery to mislead the soldiers and populace of countries in the Central Alliance. "While the Allies arc rapidly occupying Bulgaria Sin accordance With conditions of surrender the military machine is lying about German soldiers controlling Sofia and German armies occupying the country; while the machine says

it is fortifying Nish, on the BerlinB’agdad railway, the Serbians and

French are actually in possession and now control the railway to erstwhile German eastern dreams. Turkey hasn’t a spur left to fight with and Austria is in political chaos, people and their representatives increasingly demanding peace. Truly, w r e must assuredly be on the eve of amazing possibilities; the supreme chance will not bo allowed to slip away.