THE PRICE OF PEACE.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1916, Page 6

THE PRICE OF PEACE.

WIDESPREAD BUT UNEXPLAINED

HUMORS.

Londun, Juno ". It is very curious how peace minora keep circulating round Europe. At the present moment the war.by land'and sea and air seems to have readied another period of deadlock. The slow and ponderous grinding of the Cattle of Verdun stiil continues, so far with little other result than that God's vassals drop and die by the hundred thousand. Elsewhere in the immense arenas of the war, except where the Austrians make their vicious thrust against Italy and the Russians still keep the Turks on the move, tilings are pretty much at a standstill. Therefore it is the more difficult to explain the prevalence of these peace rumors. The subject is not one about which it is safe to dogmatise. On all hands we see strenuous preparations being made for the. continuance of the war. Great works are now in hand, not only in this country, but in France, the military fruits of which cannot ripen until lfll" is well advanced.

Oh the other hand there is this persistent confidence, on the part of the people whose opinions are entitled to respect, that the war will be all over before next winter sets in. It is not possible to reconcile these symptons, and the ordinary man, however wellinformed and shrewd, is compelled to adopt that attitude of philosophic expectancy which is Mr. Asqnitli's sheet a'nchoi. We must wait and see. But it is a demonstrable proposition that the/ price of an early peace must in any event he a heavy one. The heaviest price of all that Europe could pay for a quick and sudden end of the var this year would be an inconclusive peace. A return to the status quo ante bellum is a prospect too dreadful, and too ruinous, to be quite conceivable. It would leave the nations under the crushing necessity of arming themselves to the teeth in desperate preparations for the next great war, after being bled white by the present conflict. ANOTHER POSSIBILITY.

There is only one other way, on any reasonable consideration of the facts, to end the war this year. If the armies under General Joffrc's command in France could deliver a shattering blow which would, without carrying the war entirelj over the German frontier, repeat the episode of the Marne to tie extent of driving the Germans back even an appreciable distance, the Central Empires might be compelled to throw up the sponge. This would involve heavy fighting, a grim list of casualties, and tremendous expenditure of economic energy. But if it could be done, as our soldiers firmly believe it can and will be done,' before the end of the •ummer, the effect on Germany must, bo far-reach-ing and profound. At the presen'i, time'the German people are enduring a terrific strain, huge casualties, considerable deprivation, and incalculable commercial ruin, in the brave hope, if, not now of actually achieving victory, at any rate of being able to divert defeat. But a decisive setback in the field would almost certainly shake their endurance, and lead to an overwhelming demand in Germany for the cutting of their losses. The effect would also, bo great on all those Allied States who have sworn allegiance to the German flag, and who are sustained in their endeavors only by their confidence in the German prestige. Once Germany showed signs of tottering, it is almost certain that her Allies would hasten her fall. It may be, therefore, tnat this strange confidence in an early termination of the war is base'il. since it certainly is not founded on any belief in the possibility of an inconclusive peace, on the conviction that there will be a successful grand offensive in the West this summer by the Allies. The strength of the forces in France now, the state of their training and equipment, and the formidable machinery that is being forged for offensive purposes, appeal to justify such a confidence. At any fate one finds this confident belief in an early peace in very expressive and unexpected quarters. I happen to know that so wideawake and capable an authority at Admiral Jellicoe, when the question was put to him privately a few days ago, stated that in his opinion the war will.be over by November. And what impressed most those who heard the Commander-in-Chief of the British Fleets express this view was the absolute precision and confidence of the prediction. THE OLD COUNTRY.

It is satisfactory to know that we have at last solved all our recruiting problems in this country. Ws have been much criticised, and we have abused ourselves unmercifully, but what other country in the world could have hoped to equal our achievements? The British Empire's call to arms for Armageddon has been responded to by well over five million men. Over five million men have freely volunteered to take up arms in defence of right and liberty in this great struggle. Dispassionately considering all that it means, and all that it entails, there could be no finer tribute to the patriotism and the health of the British Empire. And after counting all the splendid contingents that have come overseas to hold the line for freedom, the fact remains that the manhood of the United Kingdom has proved itself second to none in spirit and purpose. The British race is not decadent. Its warrior instinct still survives undimmed. There is nothing in history of which we may be more proud than of our response'to the call in the Great War, and of the part which we played in it. Now that all the controversy has been got over, without enforcing the new compulsory powers to any extent, the recruits'are coming up in a constant stream, and the authorities have had to delay the calling up of many group? of attested men. The recruiting question has been solved, mainly by the patriotism and pluck of the British people. All the difficulties that arose, were caused by a miserable handful of professional politicians. The, munitions question has also been' Solved. Not only are we equipping our own armies with heavy guns, field guns, quick-firers,, shells and general munitions on an unexampled scale, but we are supplying all our Allies a'; well. Half a day's output of munitions in this country at the present time is about equal to the whole reserves of munitions possessed by the British Army when the battle of Loos was fought, Lord Derby has well said that this is not a war which can be fought on any limited liability principle. It is a life and death struggle in which everyone must do his utmost for himself and his friends, and, without boasting, the British Empire may look with pride on its share to the common cause. Our fleets control the seas. We have put live million men in the field. We are turning out munition.; for ourselves, for France, for Russia, and for Italy. And we are financing the war to the extent of loans to our Allies amounting to about a million and a haif a day When you come to thiak it ovit imc'lv, Germany is perfecilv intitl'd 'k. kV Hymn of Hate,