The Daily News. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1915. THE BALKANS CORRIDOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1915, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1915. THE BALKANS CORRIDOR.

Arc Austro-Germany putting up a great bluff in attacking Servia and declaring their intention of inarching on India via Constantinople and the Persian Gulf '! The Westminster Gazette, according to this morning's cables, says in effect that they are. "Such a wild-cat adventure would merely play into our hands" states the Gazette. 'lt would be impossible to strike'a serious or fatal blow at the Empire in these regions whilst we retain command of the sea." The English paper believes that we should not allow the enemy to impose the initiative upon us, but rather that we should take advantage of the dispersal of their forces to strengthen the concentration of ours, presumably on the Western front. The Germans, however, have for a long time aimed at making the Balkans a German corridor to the Near and Far East. They egged on the Balkan States to fly at the throat of Turkey, hoping in the process they would be so weakened that, it would later he an easy matter to move down to the Aegean Sea and take charge of the Sick Man —and all his belongings. The Germans had exploited Turkey in Asia, down to the Persian Gulf, where they met witli the opposition of Britain and Russia. The first Balkan war was ended somewhat differently i from wlmt they expected, and they

promptly sowed the seeds of discord between the Balkan allies, with the result that Bulgaria was badly defeated. This came ns another surprise to the Teutons, who had under-rated the prowess of the Servians and Greeks and over-rated the fighting ability and resource of the Bulgars. The Servians, however, had to be crushed, and that was the reason of Austria's peremptory Note to Servia which brought about the present conflagration. The Teutons, though striving to break the forces on the West and East, have never lost sight of their original plan, which they now appear to be putting into operation. Servia is being invaded in overwhelming force, and unless she receives strong support from the Allies she will, with the Bulgarian harrying her on the flank, be unable to resist the Teutons. Were Roumania and Greece to throw in their lots the position would be improved at once. Roumania, according to latest advice ) desires to join the Entente. The National Federation of that country have petitioned the Government to intervene, whilst the Army, a splendidly equipped one, numerically strong and ably . officered, are longing to receive marching orders. But the Allies must act themselves, and act quickly. Some Allied troops have landed at Salonika, how many it is not clear, but nothing less than 250,000 men would be of service in the present emergency, while Russia must also take a hand and land troops on the Bulgarian coast, and so relieve the Bulgars' pressure upon the other side. It is no time for hesitation; the only things that count now are guns and men; diplomacy in the Balkans is a dead letter. As for Greece, her attitude is stilj as unsatisfactory as ever, but the Bulgars' attack on her troops in Macedonia should make her move and force her to take a .place alongside the. forces of the Allies. With Roumania and Greece on our side, the German corridor to the East will be effectually closed, and the Bulgarians accorded the punishment they richly deserve for their treacherous behaviour. The Germanic forces meantime are making desperate efforts to force their way through. The Servians are gallantly resisting, and inflicting tremendous losses upon the enemy, but the odds are againt them unless the pressure of the Bulgarians on their flank is quickly removed by the Allied forces. Are the Allies alive to the danger? Have they anticipated the Germanic move? The events of the neit few days will prove.

BOROUGH FINANCES. j The valedictory statement made by Mr. J. E. Wilson on resigning the office of Mayor on Monday night contained a number of facts that will cause borough affairs to be more or less severely criticised. The two main points which the ex-Mayor emphasised were that for streets maintenance all but £314 of the amount estimated for the year's requirements had already been spent, and that many thousands pf the £42,000 loan would be wasted on out of the way streets in work that was not necessary and would not be so for years to come. Without doubt he was quite right in his opinion that it was a mistake to bring into the borough certain inland portions of the outer districts, which would have been far better left out. They must be a drag on the borough finances, and it is invariably from these unprofitable portions that the calls for expenditure are most frequent. The position, however, must be accepted as it is, and the Works Committee of the Council, which sanctioned the waste complained ' of by Mr. Wilson, must -bear the blame. The system adopted by that Committee in the past was one that lent itself to the perpertation of glaring errors, There was no individual member of the Council who was thoroughly acquainted with the whole of the borough streets, and few that even knew the names and locality of many of them except in the centre of the town and in the vicinity of their residences. A list of works to be taken in hand is called for and submitted, but, instead of each street being carefully considered as to whether the improvements are justified j or not, probably the whole list for want of the necessary guiding information is passed, merely because there are so many thousands of loan money to be spent. With a limited amount of rale revenue the greatest care has to be taken, and equal consideration should he given to loan expenditure. With regard to street maintenance, the citizens may well wonder where all the year's expenditure has gone, for there is nothing in the appearance of the streets to show that almost the whole of the vote for the year lias been spent in six mouths. The streets are in a deplorable state, and are getting more broken up every day, while the town footpaths present an aspect of poverty and mismanagement. The Mayor stated there were certain reimbursements to come in (or crushed metal supplied for loan works. To ascertain the real worth of this item it is necessary to show what price per yard is being allowed, for it may be inflated considerably over the actual cost to the borough. The Mayor is not to be blamed for blunders previous to his taking office, but the position he lias disclosed shows how imperative it is at this juncture to have as Mayor one who, by business training and successful management of a business concern, can grapple with the unsatisfactory methods now in vogue and place the finances of the borough on a sound footing. It is the want of a master hand that, lias caused the blunders of the past. We should profit by past experience and endeavor to avoid the waste that has taken place. If only the citizens would shake off their apathy they would find it a profitable and sensible operatiou, especially as there is still a large amount of loan monoy to be spent,