GERMANY'S MILITARY AND ECONOMIC POSITION.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 January 1916, Page 4

GERMANY'S MILITARY AND ECONOMIC POSITION.

The position of Germany to-day, «oth as regards men and money, is vastly different from vvliat it was wlion she .embarked on her srandiose aim of world

conquest 11 now becomes perfectly clear that thy Kaiser and bis advisers when deciding to let loose the dogs o! war were confident that the operations wovld be short, aliirp and derive—a triumphant military procession to Pa: is, the complete crushing o£ the Fror.c.i, and then away to St. Petersburg on a similar crusade against the Russians, followed by a victorious return with the spoils of victory and the possession of the French and Russian fleets, wherewith to augment the German navy in their attack upon Britain and her dominions. It was an alluring and attractive programme which was promptly upset at a point where least expected. Since then the drain on the finances and man-power of the Fatherland has been colossal, and every week that the war is prolonged increases the signs of her exhaustion, which, in the case of her men, is becoming clearer every day. So far back as last September and October the German Staff were obliged to attack in order to raise the morale of their forces in the Western theatre of the war, which was- greatly depressed by the serious chocks in Artois and Champagne, but in spite of the use of noxious gases arid heavy bombardment they wore repelled everywhere. It was then noticed that there was a large proportion of old as well as of untrained men in the fighting li(ift —troops net capable of exploiting to any extent the advantages gained by the use of. poisonous gas—and this was proved at the Hill of Tahure, showing that the limits of the capacity for offence by the German infantry is very rapidly attained. As a consequence, the losses sustained were too great to continue the enterprise. It has been estimated that the Germans bad 1,800,000 men operating against the English, French and Belgians, 1,500,000 against the Russians, 3.30,000 against the Italians, and a similar number against tlio Serbians a total of four million, exclusive of Turks and Bulgarians. The German d<pots now contain only wounded, untrained men of the Landsturm from 41 to 25, and volunteers of the 1917 class, while men workers have been withdrawn from munition factories and replaced by women and children. Anyone who has head, arms and legs must go to the front whether he can or not 'f.ven that British pessimistic military correspondent, Colonel Repington, admits that "the Germans' military situation is not brilliant, despite their successes," and he estimates their losses at, probably, three and a-half millions, and the average losses at 200,000 monthly, but he significantly adds that the Germans are unalble to' maintain their effectives, and must shortly force a decision, for seventeen months of warfare has largely destroyed the pick of the population. Kis not, under the circumstances, unreasonable to assume that German} would greatly prefer to arrange a peace, and this theory is supported by recent cables referring to offers of peace by her to Italy, Russia and Japan, all of whom immediately rejected the proposal. As to Germany's economic position, Count Okuma, in the course of an interview by the jlapan Advertiser, stated that Germany was feeling an acute financial strain, and this is borne out by a Xew York cable, which states that the ewhange rate on the German mark had declined to 7IH cents. Takjiur the value of the mark at UJ, the nuotatio!" oi iU jenls shows ■that the exchange is now at a discount of about 221 per cent,, the lowest recorded. The exchange par of the sovereign is 480.05 cents, so thnt it is now at a discount of only 2 per cent, the highest since August. American financiers are in a unique position to estimate the financial conditions of the various countries, and it is evident that they consider Germany is in a bad way. This is not surprising, considering that paper currency is dominant there. Considerable light was thrown on this matter in yesterday's cables reIntiva to Mr. W. Hewitts' scheme concerning trade after the war, which will certainly cause a wholesome fear in Germany as to her future. All these indications of the collapse of the German military and economical resources may he considered as evidence that though Germany may he obdurate she cannot carry on the war indefinitely, and as the Allies are rising to the top o f the;i- power Germany's black days are surely not far distant.