The Daily News. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1916. THE ALLIES' POSITION.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1916. THE ALLIES' POSITION.

The reassembling of the British Parliament and the introduction of a credit vote bv the Prime Minister (Mr. Asquith) formed an excellent opportunity for a statement regarding the present position of the war, and the interesting summary given by Mr. Asquith will doubtless have been read with the utmost interest throughout the Empire. The credit vote was a matter of course, it having been accurately forecasted last July. The daily expenditure continues steadily at five millions, for though the Army expenses have been slightly decreased, the cost of munitions has risen. The extent of the financial drain on the country is apparent from the fact that since April 1 last Britain's war expenditure has amounted to nine hundred and forty-nine and a-half millions, and there seems little prospect of any diminution until the war comes to an end. It must be remembered that Britain is not, only defraying her own colossal expenses, but is providing loans to the dominions and Allies, no less than two hundred and fifty-three millions sterling having been used in that direction since April > 1, and the British Premier regards this expenditure as the most important of the war. It is, however, on the summary of the situation that interest mainly centres, for therein is to be found the gratifying feature that we are now reaping the fruits of the colossal outlay of the past. We are reminded by Mr. Asquitli that the Allies have advanced seven mile s on a front of nina miles on the Somme, holding all their gains and inflicting the heaviest losses on the enemy, the prisoners taken amounting to over sixty thousand, while the guns captured total over thirteen hundred. Germany made a determined effort to capture Verdun and 'break through the French defence, but signally failed, and from that time to the present her forces have met with nothing but reverses, and though her initial indication of ultimate defeat emanated from the battle of the Marne it was Verdun that set the seal on her fate. It is pleasing to note also that in Mesopotamia real headway is teing made, though we hear so little as to what is transpiring there. On the Salonika front considerable success has also been achieved, and though in the Balkans the ■Roumanians had to retire owing to overwhelming odds, the advent of reinforcements enabled them to make a great advance, and it oannot be long before they successfully dispose of the enemy and advance into Austro-Hun-gary. Greece has been an unsatisfactory factor hitherto, but the latest cables denote that the Allies have reduced her to utter impotence, removed the menace caused by her land and sea forces, and guarded against any further treachery in banding over arms and men to the enemy, or placing the navy in German hands. In East Africa complete conquest is only a matter of time, and the Eussians, as well as the Italians, are not only making good progress, but have 'been taking a huge toll of enemy man power The German fleet is still compelled to cling to the shelter of its fortified base, and only with Zeppelins and submarines has Germany been able to claim any advantage, though the havoc inflicted on both these services has been commendably heavy. The great causes for confidence on the Allies' part to-day arise from Germany's inability to recover lost ground and the ' consequent wearing away of her forces in fruitless counter-attacks. This drain on her resources is destroying her morale, especially as those resources have been on the wane for some time past, while the strength of the Allies has been and is growing. The result is evidenced by the peace, moves that are being engineered from Germany with ever-increasing persistence. Mr. Asquith rightly contends that the present is not the moment for faint-heartedness or wavering counsels, and that all the sufferings we have undergone must not be allowed to end with a "patched-up, precarious, dishonoring compromise, masquerading under the name of peace." There must be adequate reparation for the past and security for the future. These two all important essentials form the goal of the Allies. The potently inspiring words with which the British Premier concluded his remarks in the House of Commons on Wednesday mark an important stage in the history of the

war, and leave on record a glowing tribute to t-lic co-ordinated efforts of tlie Allies,' un whose achievements, said Mr. Asquith, "the best hopes of Ininianity depended. They have given without' stint or regret what they could least afford, doing so only as the price whereby the world could purchase, ami hold dear afterwards, the protection of the weak, the supremacy of right over force, and the free development of equal conditions for each State, groat and small." There can be no peace -until this programme is carried out, for, as Mr. Lloyd George demonstrated, neutral intervention would )>e a military triumph for Germany and a disaster for the Allies.