The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1917. THE ITALIAN CRISIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 November 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1917. THE ITALIAN CRISIS.

! The arrival of BritisJi and French rein- | forccmonts should stiffen and hearten up the Italian forces, which, we are told, have reached the Tagliamento as the result of rapidity of movement and the resistance of the covering units, and enable them to make a strong stand against the oncoming Austro-Gerinans. The fact that it has been found necessary to send these reinforcements is proof that the Italians' position is critical. We are told that the Italians and the British artillerymen serving with them have been able to save most of their big guns, and, if that is so, the new line should servo as a rallying point, especially &3 the Tagliamento is now in flood. The Tagliamento is not a particularly strong natural position. It is a somewhat long line, and may he, it will be necessary, in order to make a- successful stand and reorganise the shattered Italian forces, to retire further to the fivenza, about 25 mileß east of Venice, running north-west by the east of Treyiso and Vittoria to Bellano. That would shorten the line to ijbout 00 miles, or one-half of the Tagliamento. This would entail the surrender of further territory to the enemy and make its recovery tremendously difflcnlt, but the army has to be saved if the country is to lie saved. There can be no doubt that the Italians have been dealt a staggering blow. All their dearly-won gains of the past two and a half years have had to be given up, their country is invaded, many of their troops have been taken prisoner, and the nation's vary existence is threatened. And all this has not liecn brought about by overpowering forces, as at first we were led to believe, but by -Mackensen's generalship and the cowardice—as the Italian official message frankly admits—of the second array. To save the rest of the forces the whole lite has had to be abandoned. The enemy claims to have captured 00,000 by cutting them off and outflanking them, making since the offensive began the luw number of 180,000. The Germans also claim to have captured 1500 suns, xiieii of'icial statements are ulll . L . ,liable. The Italians, however, have aot

contradicted the claims. Obviously the losses must be great when,one part of the line practically given way without warning and leaves the rest in the air. The Italians, however, should be a match for the Auatrians, but it is a singular thing that whenever the latter are reinforced by the Germans they fight as well as the beat troops. If the Italians have a sufficiency of big guns left, they should be able to ward off the enemy. If they haven't, the Allies animt supply thera at once, for Italy cannot be sacrificed. The worst feature of the reverse is that it so heartens up the Teutons, especially after their recent successes in Russia and in Riga hay, and renews their faith in ultimate victory. The moral, according to Napoleon, is always superior to the physical in war, and this undoubted victory for the Teutons' arms will have the effect of prolonging their resistance. There is no getting away from the fact that the enemy is by no' means beaten yet. We have still a long way to go before victory i s in sight, and it is well for us to remember the fact and not to delude ourselves as to the impending collapse of the enemy. It is also obvious that the deciding factors in winning the war are the French and British, supported by the Americans, and if the Russians and Italians can only contain respectable forces of the Teutons, it is about as much as, unfortunately, we can hope for. But it means that the war is not going to .be finished in a month or two.