PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2499, 28 June 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The broad effect of news from the Western theatre is that the AngloFrench offensive is being continued with vigour and meeting with success. North of Arras operations have been slowed down by bad weather, which hinders transport and impedes the progress of the attacking forces. At various points the Germans have launched vigorous counter-attacks, but they seem nowhere to have inflicted any definite check upon the Allies.

Great efforts have been made by the Germans to minimise the importance of the French capture of Metzeral, a town in the valley of the River Fecht, which runs through the Northern Vosges to debouch opposite Colmar. Such statements have been made in Berlin communiques as that the town was evacuated in consequence of a pre-arranged plan, and generally attempts have been made to show that the Germans merely evacuated an advanced position of small importance which it was inconvenient to hold. On what is known of the general position it was possible to set aside these explanations as being devoid of truth. The Germans are under a double necessity of defending their front in Alsace. It is not only the left flank of their present battle-line', but must stand in the same relation to any lino to which they may retreat ill the Western theatre until they give up the Rhine itself and retire east into their own territory. The Rhine is the final German defence on the west, and this great river is separated only by a narrow strip of plain from the Vosges through which the French are fighting their' way. In the south (opposite Mulhausen) they have already penetrated the mountains and hold heights on the eastern fringe, from which their guns dominate the plain through which the Rhine flows. Further north (opposite Colmar) they are still some miles from the east em fringe of the mountains; but the victory at Metzeral is a big stride towards the attainment of a position as advantageous on this section of the front as they hold in Southern (or Upper) Alsace. At Metzeral the French are within about a dozen miles of Colmar. Reichackerkopf where they are reported to-day to have beaten off an attack, lies north of Metzeral, at about the same .distance from Colmar. The true importance of the victory at Metzeral is emphasised in a message describing the battle in which it was won. The capture of the town is depicted as one of the most glorious achievements in French military annals. Instead of evacuating the place, the Germans defended it house by house, and were dislodged only by the irresistible dash and valour of the French Alpino troops engaged in the assault. That the enemy should put forth such efforts in defence is not strange. For them the French advance in the Vosges, already carried to a definite point in the south, means a menaced flank, not only as things stand, but under any conceivable adjustment of line on, or in advance of their own frontiers.

KEronTS available at time of writing disclose a state of affairs in Galicia which it would be rather optimistic to regard as the final outcome of the Austro-German drive which reached the point last week of an enemy occupation of Lemberg. The broad effect of the messages is to show that the Russians are still holding ground not far east of Lemberg and successfully resisting an attempt by the enemy's main force to advance along the railway which runs southeast from that city to Brzezany, half-way towards the frontier. Meantime the Russians are still fighting along the Dniester, eastward from a point south and a little east of Lem-. berg. In some places the enemy has been heavily defeated, notably south-, east of Nizniow (about fifty miles' from the eastern frontier of Galicia) where the Russians crossed to the southern bank of the Dniester and stormed and carried a hill position, including the second-iine works. At some of the places where the armies are in touch the enemy occupy ground on the northern bank of the river, but are held there by Russian attacks. With some disagreement as to details this is the position disclosed in both Russian and enemy reports and the general suggestion is that the Austro-Germans are finding it extremely difficult to improve the advantage they gained in capturing Lemberg. It is to be noted, however, that most of the messages refer to fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Lemberg was captured on Tuesday. It is not to be expected that the Russians should succeed in holding ground as far to the west as these report indicate now that Lemberg is out of their hands. A brief halt in the German main advance is natural enough. The advance has been likened, in an expressive phrase, to a series of paroxysms, and the period covered in the re-, ports under review may probably be regarded as a lull between paroxysms. Much weight must be attached to the position of the contending armies as regards railways. Here the advantage is now wholly with the Austro-Germans so far as operations extending to the confines of Galicia are concerned. It is evident that the Russians are offering a magnificent resistance. They have yielded very slowly before the tremendous concentration of the ffustroGerman main advance on Lemberg, and coincidently have inflicted smashing blows upon the enemy forces along the Dniester. But it is to be expected that the retreat of the Russians will extend to areas muoh nearer the frontiers of Galicia than those mentioned in the current reports. * # * » According to a Rome official message the Italians are still advancing in the Trcntino, despite the fact that tho Austrians aie industriously improving and strengthening their mountain strongholds. Another report states that the _ Italians are bombarding the outlying forts defending Tarvis, t an Alpine town, by way of which invasions of Austria from Italy have been made in the past. Tarvis lies near the eastern end of the Carnic Alps, opposite the north-pastern corner of Italy, about 60 miles north of the Adriatic. The Predil Pass is due south, about 7 miles away, but Tarvis is also approached from Italy by a railway, which passes through the mountains further west. Apparently the Italians are attacking both by way of the Prcdil Pass and along the railway. Tarvis is a railway junction of some importance, linking up the line from Italy with others running both north and east into Austria'. On the eastern front, along the Isonzo River, the position lias not greatly.changed. The Italians have established direct communication bcrivudi&ia. und Mpnfakcmn (the Utter place on the Gulf of

Trieste aud Gradisca on the Isonzo, about 7 miles north), which means presumably that they are in full possession of the railway between the two places, on the eastern bank of the Isonzo.

An abscnco of news directly relating to the Dardanelles campaign is in part atoned for by some highly interesting, but lo an extent contradictory, references to Turco-Bulgar-ian relations. On Saturday a message was published stating that the Turks were beginning to rcinforcc Kirk Kilisse and Adrianoplc (their outlying fortresses facing Bulgaria), fearing Bulgarian intervention. This message came from Paris. A .Rome message to-day asserts that the Turks have evacuated Adrianoplc and withdrawn their troops to the Chatalja lines, the short line from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmora, immediately covering Constantinople. One point of interest is that if the withdrawal has been made, Turkey _ has resigned land access to the Gallipoli Peninsula. The route lies through the territory north of the Sea of Marmora, and outside the Chatalja lines, to the Isthmus of Bulair. There is at present a conflict of cvidenco, but if the Turkish armies have fallen back on the Chatalja lines, as the later message declares, Turkey must be in imminent apprehension of a new attack either by her Balkan neighbours or by Russia. A statement that the Bulgarian Minister at Constantinople has returned to Sofia accompanied by the President of the Turkish Parliament, and another that Turkey has indicated that she would prefer peace with the Entente to making concessions to Bulgaria, throw no definite light upon the position. One plain fact is that as time goes on Bulgaria's opportunity of assisting in the dismemberment of Turkey is slipping away. Possibly this fact provides the key to the situation. In her own interests Bulgaria will abstain from making war on Turkey only if she cherisnes lingering hopes of an Austro-German vietory in the war, and any such hopes must by this time be seriously unsettled-

The worst news to-day is that ■which shows that an absolutely united response is not yet being made to the demand for industrial mobilisation in Great Britain with a single eye to .national efficiency in the war. The supreme emergency and the urgency of the call for united effort might be expected to inspire a spirit of harmonious accord in masters and men, bub evidently the nation is still some way short of this ideal. One report states that 1400 men working at an explosives factory in Ayrshire have struck because the directors dismisscu an office boy, and other messages show that in some important depart-: merits of industry—notably coal production—men and employers are still boggling over an agreement which would cxcludc strikes and lock-outs until the war is over. Happily there is a brighter side to the picture. Volunteers are pouring into the industrial anny—ten thousand have already enlisted in Glasgow alone. It is a good sign also that the frivolous strike of munitions workers in Ayrshire has so angered other workers that they are reported to be threatening the strikers and their leaders. The news as a whole conveys a promise that the nation will before long be as effectively organised in the operation and expansion of war industries as are the armies in the field. No measures -would be too severe in dealing with the minority who are hindering the process. Their opposition makes for the defeat of their country in the war as directly as honest efforts in the field of battle, and in the workshop make for victory. Dealing with the position at large Mr. Bonar Law has used an effective metaphor. We can trust our soldiers, lie says. They are tho spear-head, but the united nation must drive it home. In this striking sentence the essential facts are compressed. The British Army in this war has done wonderful work, and surpassed its own traditions oE martial glory. The fact puts a double brand of shame upon every shirker or slacker in any field of national effort. Such people not only withhold the aid they should freely render, but reduce and hamper that joint efficiency of army and nation which is essential to complete victory.

America's _ latest Note to Great Britain —insisting that non-contra-band cargo consigned to neutral ports regardless of its eventual destination, shall not be molested— should cause the Imperial Government to revise its ideas as to the advisability of placing cotton on the list of contraband, and may also lead to the extension of the contraband restrictions to other commodities. _ The whole efficiency of the British blockade of Germany depends upon an application of the doctrine of continuous voyage—that is to say, upon an assertion of the right of Great Britain to arrest cargoes destined eventually for Germany, though they are consigned in the first instance to neutral countries. Except in cases of detected fraud Great Britain's practice has been to pay compensation for cargoes arrested in this way. The greatest possible consideration has thus been shown to neutral consignors, and Britain has even gone the length of keeping cotton—a most important war material—off the list of contraband. 'Instead of being grateful America is now advancing a demand which would make an end of the British blockade, except as regards contraband, if it were acceded to. America is asking neither more nor less than that all non-contraband goods, cotton included; should be allowed to pass freely into Germany by way of neutral countries. Since the form of the American Note involves a free admission of the right of a belligerent to arrest contraband goods the easiest way out of the difficulty will be to declare cotton contraband. More difficult questions may arise where food-stuffs and other goods are concerned, but in the circumstances that now exist—a Government monopoly of food-stuffs in Germany—the British Government would presumably be within the four corners of international law in declaring food-stuffs also contraband. In its general effect the American Note is decidedly unreasonable, and the most' effective reply would seem to be a sharp assertion of belligerent righl.s.

The German reply to representations by the United States concerning the Lusitania outrage is artfully drawn. The admission that Germany was "probably misinformed"'in regard to the arming of the liner, together with an expression of willingness to negotiate for the protection of passengers and a refusal to abandon submarine warfare, is calculated to prolong discussion and defer a settlement. That no fjwibfc i» Gflrm«nr'» object- Her real wntiaicuU arc no doubt &c-

curatcly reflected in the newspaper utterances, which scout the idea of any backing-down in the submarine campaign, and even go so far as to declare that in the event of war submarines will cross the Atlantic and torpedo American warships. In Germany most of the newspapers are well under control, and these utterances no doubt represent a sort of semi-official uefiance. At the same time tho rulers of Germany are not in a position to give rein to their hatred of the United States and their natural policy will bo to temporise. withholding full satisfaction but avoiding a rupture. This does not leave tho United States in a very satisfactory or dignified position, but on the past showing of the Government of that country tho German tactics of delay arc likely to succeed almost indefinitely. Predictions and promises of a firming up of public opinion in the United States count for little against the fact that a large number of American citizens were murdered when the Lusitania was sunk seven weeks ago, and that their Government has not yet pi-essed any vigorous demand for satisfaction.