The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1920. THE RUSSO-POLISH WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3564, 28 August 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1920. THE RUSSO-POLISH WAR.

With which is incorporated "The Taihape Post and Waimarino News."

The Russo-Polish war continues to furnish, a rather .prolific-supply of surprises. Changes in .the fortunes of the respective .armies come about so rapidly, and .are of such a wide and comprehensive character, rendering them more than ordinarily difficult to understand. The -cabled information received in New Zealand does not account for the defeat lof the Russians while at the doors of Warsaw, demanding with ;all ithe force of '. admission which is only denied by a : depleted, war-worn, tired, heavily belaboured and much ..beaten remnant of the Polish army, that had ibeen indis-; creet enough to invade Russian ten , tory. I* is doubtful whether a I change ifxom Polish generalship to that of French ca n be made to exI plain the sudden rise of Polish J strength. It is said the tactics of the battle of the .Marne have been repeated", that the Russians made the precisely similar .error in tactics that Von Kluck made when in the ■ full flush of victory, at the river Marne, and that French "Officers enacted with Polish soldiers those scientific movements upon which undoubtedly hung the fortunes of the Allies, and the future of civilisation. Be that as it may, the fact remains that while the whole world was expecting every minute to learn -of the fall and coni quest of Warsaw, and of all the horrifyifig details Which now seem a part of Bolshevik war-making, news is flashed over the cables that tihe Poles have done the Marnfe tric*k more effectively -than the French worked it upon the Germans. A broken and much-beaten Polish army has completely defeated a Bolshevik army in the full flush of a long line of victories-; driven it back while its very .arm was out to reach the great prize the objective of all its efforts; turned it from possession of «hr fringe, from having its grip upon the outer parts of the Polish capital, and transformed it, almost as by the wave of a wizard's wand, into a beaten, dejected, hopeles s rabblo, rushing helter-skelter anywhere for safety from Polish avengers. Of course, such a. reversion of fortune has its legitimate explanation; although no- I thing to account for such a surprising change, it i s probable that new for-ces-have been equipped with munitions of war that were made to arrive at the exact strategical moment. Tn fact we had anticipated some such a happening by previously stating that new, fresh forces, well equipped with requisite munitions were likely to be available for resisting a tired Russian army; a n army worn out by the over-exertion of many successes over a very large area of territory- By rapid marching and much fighting the Russians would arrive at the por'a\s of Warsaw in a vitally depleted condition, and to be met at the last round in the battle by new, fresh forces, well-furnished with newly arrived artillery and other war material and equipment, would probably turn the issues against, them, and supply an explanation for the surprisingly rapid change in the fortunes of the Polish army. Whether the opportunity Will, be seized to found «■ peace that will be just to both warring national's regretfully problematical; for while civilisation is virtually hanging u'-»on sueh a peace, there is an interested party in Europe that will take insane risks in keeping up war conditions to gratify their own selfish, reactionary ends. There can be no settjefl conditions in any country un-

Hok. til there is universal peace, and the fact that this war is in Eastern Europe and not in France and Belgium makes little or no difference so far as it affects a world-wide reconstruction of society. With the Polish success there comes the opportunity to come to satisfactory terms with the Russians, and if the backers of Poland really desire peace, meetings of delegates from both countries may be resumed at Minsk, or at some more suitable place. It remains to be seen whether the United States, Britain, France and other countries are more concerned with a fight for a return to feudalism, or whether they desire a humane, an uplifting peace that will give every man, woman and child the right to life in circumstances that, will not permit them to drift through misfortune into slavery and semi-starva-tion. Lloyd George is frequently urging that, peace is the one, the supreme, condition the world needs to save it from regression and decadency: will he take the conditions now offering to establish complete European peace