THE ECLIPSE OF RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1917, Page 6

THE ECLIPSE OF RUSSIA.

. M'oRE FOR BRITISH ARMIES TO DO. GREAT TASKS AHEAD. THE AMERICAN'S PART. London, Sept. lft. 1 Tlic dominant thought to-day in Russia is one of self-pity and self-help. Russia j longs for a peace that will leave her free to organise her own chaotic affairs, and 1 she would gladly abandon territory and ; give up all this annexationist ideas of ■ the past, jf she could get this freedom to-day". Her condition has always been more, painful than • Germany's. In the midst'of plenty, her people have starved, her industries have been drained of their manhood, and her losses in the field have not brought the exultation of victory, ' but the bittenie.fs of defeat. To-day she 1 faces k terrible winter, with her interior so disorganised that people cannot get food, and cannot get money, and cannot find security even from robber bands. In many parts liberty has been interpreted as the right to loaf and steal. Soldiers and peasants discuss their rights with endless How of words, all well-mean-ing and charitable. But they do not work or equip themselves for battle. The depots have become debating societies instead of training grounds, and drafts in the trenches cannot even dig their shelters, because they have never learnt how'. A recent arrival from Petrograd tells me that liberty was so misunderstood that even parents went home and told their children they need not obey anybody in future; :lUissia had entered into the promised land of perfect, freedom and delight. One large section of the allpowerfui Soviets even demand that Rnsl sia's ties to the oilier Allies should j be thrust aside, so that the Russians l should stand free, perfectly free, free of I all moral, a well as physical restrictions. MORE WORK FOR BRITISH TROOPS. The net result of the Russian situation is that the task of the British armies has become heavier than ever—heavier than they can bear without help. It is claimed by Field-Marshal Haig, with, I think, a reasonable support from facts;, that if pressure had been maintained on the I eastern front, he would have destroyed J the German lighting power on the western. In the same way General Cadorna would have stormed and have held San (inbrielle and 'Hermada had Kerensky kept the Austrians busy in Galicia. Plan's j for • next year must be based on the ! certainty that Germans and Austrians will be able to hold their eastern front ' with poor troops, and thus concentrate their reliable fighting forces in France and against Italy. It is a heavy discouragement, and might have been fatal to the war spirit of some of the Allies, had not the United States guaranteed a . large army. I find amongst soldiers a

I conviction that the American divisions I i will be of little use until next year is I well spent, and an idea that we inay be I able to instil defeat into the German army's, mjnd before the Sammies have got thoroughly going. Soldiers have been' through so many disappointments and reverses that they are inclined to think that General Pershing will have to pay for similar experiences. America may not have a Dardanelles or a Saloniea, bilt she will certainly have her battles, of Aisne and Ypros, which teach essential lessions. She has her military work in the right way, and has numerous commissions of keen, intelli- j gent soldiers studying the Allied teach- i ings on the spot. She has secured a Bri- ' tish officer of wide experience and know- ' ledge, who has fought, with Australian divisions throughout the war, as a guide and friend at her headquarters. But the ! imain effect of the Russian troubles is j to throw work on the aggressive, thrust- i ins British armies. They have the quali- j ties of drive, and the vast equipment j without which such qualities would be useless. They stand to-day in the field as ! the best-equipped and most thrustful of ! all armies, and their doings are limited only by their leadership and their numbers. The future is very largely a question of keeping these British armies in France up to full strength. It is a question of man-power. And if divisions fall out, as Australian divisions will fall out I in a few months if recruits do not come along, complete victory is so much tho ! less likely. Great Britain is, by combing and economising, keeping her quota* ! of divisions in the field, and her propor- , tion of the Empire's armies in France is now as six to one, though her population as compared with that of Australia, ; Canada, and New Zealand is only as 3.5 to one. HOW AMERICA IS DOING!. / In 1016, when the British armies rushed into their offensive on the Somnie as a desperate defensive measure,- moments occurred when every division pulled its full weight, and "when all the weight Was vital to the cause. Now those days are past. But a stalemate would be as bad as downright defeat, for it would mean merely defeat longer • drawn out. And the great hope of avoid- ! ing the stalemate has come to rest upon \ the Anglo-Saxon. Lord Northcliffe sent from Mew York some interesting despatches showing how the United States intends to do her part ii: the AngloSaxon combination. SSie has already 1,500,000 men under arm's. Of these there are 400,000 regular soldiers, a large nunibe; of whom are in France already. Then there are the 500,(XX! of the National Guard, brought up to war strength by voluntary enlistment, And there are tho first drafts of conscripts—oß3.ooo. For these men United States contractors have rushed up sixteen new cities of wood and iron. Built for the most part away from the great cities, they afford ideal training grounds. They are equip- ■ ped with tho newest fighting machines, and with instructors versed in all the Allies' experiences of actual fighting. Lord Northcliffe describes one such soldiers' city: "Nearly all the material had to be brought from what appear to ui

i vast distances. As often at not Wfe thermometer stood at 100 deg., yet the daily photographs taken by the contractors show that progress was continuous until six weeks after the arrival of this army of 10,000 laborers, a great part of the city was ready for occupation. The strongly and comfortably built huts are all provided with heating Arrangements for the winter, and baths, hot and cold, are attached to each building. There are vast .stores and office blocks, several post offices, a huge bakery, laundry, stables for 1300 horses and' mules, hospitals, schools. in all, between 1200 and 130» ! buildings." A forest had to be cut down j to provide a site for one camp. At an« ; other—that of Yaphank, all saloons were. suddenly closed within five miles. No discussion preceded the closure. Tho j United States is at war; saloons are not ; good for war; close them." These are | thft prpmpt and drastic methods in force. j The sums of money voted made the i brain reel. For aeroplane construction £l-28,000 000 has been appropriated. TJp- [ on merchant shipbuilding £227,000,000 is jto be spent. In all, the war expend!- ■ ture of the United States already amounts to well over £1,000,000 a dfty, and loans to Allies accounts for another I £2,400,000 every 24 hours. Ind the war | machine gathers momentum as it travels,,