NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2235, 22 August 1914, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR

There is a tendency on tEe part of many people to treat too seriously isolated items of news" concerning tlie war. A trifling success in an engagement between small bodies of troops is received with a jubilation quite disproportionate to its actual influence'on the course of the campaign. Equally news of any move-ment-of-the Allies which may seem to,_ indicate that matters are not goin£ well with our friends produces a quite unwarranted amount of concern. Yesterday, for instance, the announcement that the Belgians had been forced to retire before a much greater ( body of German troops, and that communication with Brussels was difficult was sufficient warrant in the eyes of some pessimistic people- for conjiirinsr up all sort's of dreadful possibilities. As a matter of fact it is quite impossible to draw any far-reaching conclusions from the scraps of news from time to time made public relating to these pVeliminary engagements and movements •of troops. --.There,are certain to bo many minor ups, and downs and skirmishing-»and reconnoitring parties'will be driven back or Jmay achieve their purpose from time to time without seriously affecting the fortunes of the main bodies of troops. Moreover, a retirement, even if forced, does not necessarily .meanfthat the retiring force has not accomplished what was expected of it. When Napoleon ha'di completed his plans, and commenced his final great movement against the. forces of Wellington and Blucher a few days before Waterloo, Blucher, in order to gain time for the concentration of his forces, left General Zeiten in his rear to delay the French advance. ZEiTENjjallantly carried out this task. So stubbornly contested every vantage point, fighting • a yielding rattle, and though steadily driven back, hindered the French advance sufficiently to enable Blucher to concentrate his main forces at the spot desired. In Belgium the Belgian troops have been entrusted with a similar task. Their duty has been to delay the German advance, and by so doing afford time for the Allies to bring'up their main forces into position for the great battle. 'No one expected the Belgians to defeat the enormous army of German invaders; they have, indeed, exceeded all 'expectations ' in keeping it in check for so. long.

Following on'the news, of the retreat _of the Belgians comes word that tho Allies Tiave defeated the Germans and inflicted, heavy losses at Tirlemont. _ This is one of tho places from which, we. were told a few hours previously, the Belgians had been forced to retire. It is possible that the retirement of the Belgians was part of a plan to allow the German troops to reach a position where they would be- specially open to attacki That the. retirement was a trap, and the Germans fell'into it. It is more.probable, however, that i the Belgians were forced to retire,' but later, being reinforced by the advance of fresh troop's, delivered. , a counter-attaok with successful results. At time of writing no details are available, and the importance of the engagement, therefore, cannot bo. estimated. The incident, however, shows the unwisdom of taking too seriously what may be only minor'happenings, and the effects of which may be completely reversed a few hours later, tlnti the- full information is to hand it is foolish to jump to rash conclusions; What we do know—and it is most satisfactory—is that the plans of the Allies to delay the German advahco have been so far very successful; and that this must, prove of immense advantage in enabling the Allies to prepare for the great clash which may now be taking place. One of the messages received from Brussels to-day professes to describe the position of the Allied forces in Belgium. It states that their lines extend from Diest, 23 miles east of Brussels, to Givet, the French frontier town', over GO miles to the south. The line, however, does not run straight from point to point, but starting at Diest curves outward towards the French frontier as far as Quatre Bras'(so miles westward from the Kiver Mouse), then begins to sweep in again gradually, , the curve ending up at , Givot. The position is said to be a strong one, and a glance at the map shows* that it covers the whole of the country south of Brussels through which an invading army might pass. Further isouth Nature has provided a barrier of rough wooded highland which is considered impassable to a large force of troops. North of ] Diest, hiiwover, is open country, and , it is impossible to believe that l.hft '

Allies' lines in t-llis direction end vhflvostated. It is probable .that L Micro is also a large force statioaec]

between Dicsfc and Antwerp, and, indeed, another message, states that I this line is strongly held ■ by the Allies. Throughout the whole length of the Allies' line are/ railways. Those run both north and south and cast and west, and must prove of immense advantage in moving troops from point to point as occasion may require. Whether the Allies in-i tend to give battle at the position they arc reported to have now taken up may still be open to doubt. • It has generally been considered that in any attempted German invasion of Franco opposition in Belgium would be only temporary, and that the real trial of strength' would take place along the French frontier. Probably, however, the delay in the German advance has enabled the Allies to push forward in sufficient force to warrant a battle half-wa,y between the.German and French frontiers. Koughly speaking, that, is the position of Quatre Bras, the point of the Allies' line most distant from the German frontier. - As this "page goes to press tiews comes to hand that the Allies are retiring beyond Brussels, in which "case the serious fighting may take-place nearer the French frontier than the earlier cable news indicates.

Activity is still being displayed in Southern" France. The French ■ troops invading. Alsace-Lorraine have scored further successes, and in one case the Germans are reported to have regained , a position from which they had been driven a day or two ago. A small Austrian success against a band of Cossacks is the single unpleasant item from the East. Otherwise the Russian forces appear to be pressing forward at a variety of points. Their latest capture is'the town of Lyck, about 25 miles from their frontier. There is no news*to-day from any quarter of naval operations. Some theorists who have written at various times prior to the war as to the probable actions of Germany in a campaign against France and England have expressed the opinion that before sending his fleet to sea the Kaiser would wait to strike a successful blow on land with his military forces. This is not the generally accepted idea, .for it permits England to send troops across the Channel to the assistance of France, while the German fleet lies idle in port. Still, so far, it has been borne out bythe inaction of the German warships.' , .»'■". It is difficult' to understand the attitude of . the ■ President ■ of the United-States in refusing to sanction the" loan which Me. Morgan proposed to make to the French Government, and in placing an embargo on? loans to Canada. It would, of course, be a breach of international law' for a neutral Government to give or lend money to a belligerent State. Such "an act would be a clear violation of neutrality. But there is a great difference, between the acts of a State and' those of a private citizen, and there appears to he no ground for. holding that' neutral • individuals may not lend money to belligerent States. NeutraHndividuals constantly trade with belligerent Governments, and money is a form of merchandise which can be transferred just as easjj,y ,as; othsr o cqmmodAties. "Commercial 'transactions in it could not be prevented," writes an authority on international law, "exce'pt hy,'a.n amount of espionage, and interfer-" once which would outrage human nature and render all trade impossible. ■ No war v of any magnitude takes place without the free resort by the combatant Powers to neutral money markets." The neutval trader lends at his own risk, but in doing so he-commits..no breach of the common law of nations. In 1823 the law officers of the British Cabinet laid it < down that "accqrding to the opinion of writers on the law of .nations and the practice which has, prevailed," loans by individual subjects ."would not be an infringement of neutrality." This is a perfectly clear and reasonable statemenß of the position, and Mr. Wilson's embargo on private loans to France or Canada seems to be an unwarrantable; and far-fetched interpretation of the duty of a neutral State in time of wax.