Progress of the War

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15223, 10 March 1915, Page 8

Progress of the War

Tae most important news this morning has to do with tho Allies' operations against Turkey. Wβ are told from a. French official source that, in view of

the attack on tho Dardanelles, .the

French have decided to concentrate an expeditionary' force in Northern Africa, and London a, concentration in the same region of troopa ready to sail at a moment's notice. It ■will probably be> found that by this time the*e troops have commenced

operations against tho Turks, other-

wise tho move- would not bo an-nounced.-It is worth recalling • that a few days ago a message from Athene stated that the, first contingent of an Anglo-French force, under a French general, had arrived for employment at tho Dardanelles. Tho land forces that

are to be directed against Turkey may attack other points besides the Dardanelles. There is the open flank of the

army in Syria, that has ueen operating against Egypt, and there is Smyrna.

Admiral Peirse lias not been operating for nothing against the Smyrna forts, the reduction of which was announced aa '" a incident in the main oper- " ations." Kviden.tly we are on the eve of great happenings in this theatre, and. with our men in Egypt, our special

nto rest in them in obvious.

There is le*s news than usual from the Eastern theatre. A Russian offensive is developing at Sinvulki, which Jiea

near the East Prussian frontier,

north-west of Grodno. The Russiaua drove the Germans from thero back

into their own territory some months ago, and no doubt .history mil repeat itself. In tho centre of the theatre in Poland the Gorman offensive has been chocked, and a Russian counter-offen-sive Inus begun, while the news from Gaik-ia, .though meagre, is ateo in the Russians' favour. From the "Western

theatre there is the usual story of ismall gains by the Allies. How difficult is tho Allies' task ie indicated by the fact that, while for some time wo hare been getting almost daily reports of progress in the Champagne, a "Times" correspondent says that although the

gains are important, at no point does tho advance exceed a. mile. The Germans have sunk another British merchantman, and tried to sink a geooud, but the contrast between the figures for the traffic to and from Britain, and tie number of the enemy's successes, shows what a failure the attempted " blockade" ha« been.

Tht lingii.sh newspapers at the end oi : January printed particulars of the Genm:n Government's measures for doaliiiy with wheat, rye and flour. AH supplies were to bo confiscated by February Ist. and to pass into the possession of Imperial or municipal organisations. ?These bodies are to pass the corn on to the mills, which have to work on conditions fixed in the last resort by the authorities. Thero is a, special Imperial organisation for distributing supplies to the local administrations, which are left to regulate for themselves tho distribution to the public"—and so on. In a memorandum issued by the Prussian Ministry of State it was explained that all these

measures had been decided upon "in order to spare tho German pepple during tho period of war a great increase in the price of bread." Unless they

have signally failed to explain their meaning, the people in this country who want to whip up a campaign. *of "vehemence" against tho Government would have us believe that jgomowhat

dmilar measures ought to be taken in New Zealand. But wo find much difficulty in believing that we are, as a people, in quito the same unpleasant 6traits as Germany.

The announcement by the Admiralty that it is unable to extend "honourable treatment" to the crew of the submarine ÜB, who were captured in

British waters the other day, is. we believe, the first of tho kind on our side in the war. The Russians took a similar view of the status of the airship crew captured at Libau, and we were- told they were to be tried for bombarding an unfortified town. As the Admiralty says, the D 8 probably was guilty of sinking unarmed merchantmen. Even if she did not sink any, she probably tried to. Tho sink-

ing of such ships without warning is simple murder. "Suppose," 633-3 "Truth," imagining a parallel to the Zeppelin raid in Norfolk, "that a Bri-

tish submarine were to go to some unrequentcd part of the Baltic coast of

Germany, and that her crew were to sneak ashore by night, enter the first houses they came to, and cut the throats of the inhabitants as they lay in their beds. If they were caught 1 suppose they would bo hanged; it would be the proper way of dealing with them." The torpedoing of a ship like the Amiral was just a≤ villainous an act as this would be. The Admiralty statement indicates

that if these sailors can bo proved guilty of sinking unarmed merchantmen they will be punished.

The Admiralty also draw* attention to the fact that British ships have done their utmost- to rescue Germans whoso vessels were sunk, although the enemy has not accorded similar treatment to British sailors. It would be interesting to know exactly what is referred to in this charge of lack of chivairy and humanity. It may bo the iight in which the Monmouth and Good Hope went down. The Germans said that the sea was too rough for rescue work, and we know from the report of the Glasgow that it was high. But the charge has been made against the Germans by an outsider, who based it on the statements on the German ship, that the-v could have rescued.

come of tho British, but. obeying instructions, did not do so. Perhaps some of tho prisoners from the Gneisenau in England have been talking, and perhaps the officers of the Glasgow have been expressing their opinion as to whether rescue work was possible. Tho British record in this respect is beyond reproach. Our men risked their lives to rescue Germans in the Heligoland engagement, and in the recent fiaht in the North Sea they were attacked by aircraft when picking up the Bluchor's men. In the Falkland Islands' fight a CJerman cruiser got away because the British hold it to bo their dnty to rescue the Tleipzig's survivors. It is something to get from the Germans an admission that they tried 1o j torpedo the hospital ship Asturias, and 'an expression of regret for their action, o?Jt their explanation is not convincing. Hospital ships are very clearly distinguished by a broad green band running round tho ship on a white ground, two large red crosses, one on each side, and two crosses on tho funnel. As there was enough light for the officer of the watch to see the track the coming torpedo, there should have been enough to enable tho commander of tbo submarine to make out the vessel's distinguishing marks. At any rate, it -was tho duty of the commander to examine the ship thoroughly before attacking it.

An interesting confession i.s made by the Wellington "Post" in commenting upon the Labour Representation Committee's inclusion of unimproved rating in its municipal election programme. Our contemporary observes that it fought strenuously for this system of rating, and then adds:—"AY e have not lost our faith in the principle, but experience has proved that the indiscriminate operation of the scheme has covered some oi Wollinaton's beauty-spots with buildings. A visitor from the South remarked cynically a few years ago: 'In Christcmtrch every house has a backyard; in Wellington every backyard has a house.' It can be truly said that in parts of Wellington the rating on the alleged unimproved value of land ha s created nnimprovements. Flowers and the verdure of living trees have been replaced by dead timber, of uninspiring form and colour. Undeniably, this rating system sadly needs intelligent amend" nient. Town-planning— clearing o f slum areas/ runs another line of the Labour manifesto, and then a form of rating is advocated, without qualification, of which one visible effect is townspoiling."

In Christehurch we have seen tho beginning of this town-epoilhig, and the public can make up its mind that the process rnnst continue go lons a s the present system of rating is maintained. When the Wellington paper— which presents a perfectly true picture of tho effects of the system in its neighbourhood— «ays that it has not lost faith in the principle., but that the principle has irredeemably bad results in practice, it is not at all consistent. What it moans is, simply, tliat it is undesirable that land should be kept idlo for speculative purposeSj to tho detriment of the public interest, but still more undesirable that a cure should be sought through unimproved rating. It is confusing the issue to talk of "indiscriminate" application of tho principle, for the principle cannot admit of discrimination. And everyone knows that the faddists who support this and other unsound "principles" are .the most, thoroughgoing peoplo in tho world. They delight in carrying out their "principlee" to their logical and eminently undesirable end; the incidental damage that is done they regard as a trifling price to pay— or rather for tho community to pay— for the beautiful completene* of the scheme. As a matter of fact the leading advocates of unimproved rating know perfectly well that their scheme is really a bad one, as the "Post" shows it is, but their supremo desire is to attack and destroy the institution of land-ownership. If they cannot destroy it, they can—so they reason it out—in tho meantime affirm their principle and applj- it as far as possible, regardless of the consequences.