PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2752, 22 April 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

So far-as President Wilson and his Government are concerned, an end appears to have been made of hesitation and temporising in . tho negotiations with Germany over the submarine issue. The terms of the latest Note sent to Berlin are explicit and peremptory. It states, we are told, that "unless the Imperial German Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of warfare against passenger ships and trade-carrying vessels, this Government will have no choice but tg sever diplomatic relations .altogether." If this were America's final word it would, of course, amount to an ultimatum, leaving Germany no other choice than to terminate tho submarine campaign on its present lines or accept a rupture of diplomatic relations with the United States. That the American Note can be regarded as an ultimatum. _ is not yet certain. It implies obviously that President Wilson has come to a decision to force the hand of the [ German Government and rcach finality in the negotiations which have been spun out to such inordinate length, but in considering whether practical effect is likely to be given to this decision it is necessary to take account of Congress as well as of the,. President. Before the peremptory Note dispatched to Berlin can be taken at its face value, 1 it must bo shown that Congress is prepared to effectively support the si dent' in the stand he has taken. This is-not yet established.

The firm wording of the 'Note possibly 1 implies that President Wilson is. confident of being supported by Congress even in the most extreme action against Germany if that should prove necessary, but on what is generally known of the political situation in the United States,' this is at best an open question. There is reason to doubt whether Congress is capablo of at once taking up a firm and decided attitude consonant 1 with the terms of the President's Note. These doubts are not resolved by the fact that both Houses recently, by big majorities, .supported' the President in his assertion of the rights of American citizens to travel on belligerent ships. The question voted upon was a detail, though an important detail, in the negotiations. Possibly all that has happened as yet is that one chapter of delays and temporising has closed and another _ opened. President Wilson has gi\ r en proof of an extraordinary iaculty for spinning out negotiations in which the central and essential issue was at all times perfectly clear. The powers of Congressional committees and political factions in this direction have yet to be .put to the test.

Observations _ which' throw light upon the position now reached in America were made by the . wellknown American publicist, Mr. Jas. Davenport Whelpley, in a recent article in the Fortnightly Review. In the first place he emphasises the fact that where the treatment of oritical foreign affairs is concerned Congress stands to the President in the relation of a higher authority. On Congress rests the" sole authority to declare war, and it follows that in the handling of all_ matters which suggest the possibility of war—a description unquestionably applicable to the present negotiations with Germany—the President must subordinate his actions to the will cf the politicians in Congress, to whom in the end he must go for approval. These remarks may seem to have :i retrospective, rather than an immediate, bearing upon President Wilson's latest action, for it is almost unthinkable that he would invite a direct rebuff. Nevertheless it seems too much to_ hope that Congress will at once arrive at a decision to unreservedly support the President. Congress is a body subject. to all sorts of varying and conflicting influences, including that of the German and pro-German faction, • ssnd the more important influence of those who are prepared to meet this faction in a spirit of compromise. It is therefore easy to believe thai Mr. Whelpley is on sound ground when he sums up the. Congressional attitude towards the war in the following terms:—

A continued neutrality; indiscriminate advocacy of the "rights of neutials"; an impartial criticism of all parties to the war; expansive oratory on non-controver-sial features of the conflict; bluff where it is thought it will prevail, and, failing that, compromise in all situations which threaten to pass from the "acute", diplomatic stage to a pofnt where something must .actually bo done. This does , not mean that there are no men in Congress who will hew to the lino of intelligent conviotion. for there are, and in their utterances may be found the real spirit of the unhyphenated American people, that sheet-anchor which holds the nation to its moorings in SDite of all. Even the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, which will have an im-. portant part to play in further dealings with Germany, is not free from the disabilities which tend to incapacitate Congress for dealing in firm and decided fashion with such questions as are now at stake. As Mr. Whelpley describes this responsible Committee, its Democratic majority consists chiefly of provincial politicians utterly untrained in foreign affairs. Speculation as to what Congress will do in the great emergency by which it is now faccd would be futile, but it would obviously be unwise to assume that President Wilson's latest Note means that the. Unite,J Stated will force matters in dispute with Germany to an immediate decision. • * » * In its later developments the Verdun battle has involved <i certain amount of give-and-take. The Germans again claim, and the claim is not denied, that they have captured a. quarry south of Haudromont Farm. . The quarry in question.lies about a mile and a quarter east of the Meusc, and almost due west of Fort Douaumont. On the other hand, the French report the capture of a redoubt .in Vaux sector, south-east of Douau-" mont, and they have also recovered some of the trenches at the base of Dead Man's Hill, three miles west of the Mouse, which were lost about a fortnight ago., There is no evidence even in his own reports, as they are transmitted at time of writing, that the enemy has lately made any material headway. • * * *

A somewhat surprising item in the news is the report that the Germans made threo violent but fruit less assaults on Les Eparges. This is a commanding position overlooking the Woeuvre plain. It was won by the French in the early part of last year. Infantry assaults by the Germans on this eastern face of the Verdun position have been regarded as improbable, and foi' excellent rea> sous. ' In the carlx. stages of tho

on the Woeuvrc plain) but it was purely ,a strategic retirement. Inbattle the French retired their lino deed, it is stated that the enemy failed at first to perceive it, and that sixteen hours elapsed before his troops began to advance across the evacuated positions. As soon as. the German troops came up against the new French line of defence, according to an English military correspondent, their advance promptly ceased, and no serious attempt was made to break through. The idea of attacking Verdun from the plain of the Woeuvrc, he adds, is one that can scarcely be regarded as practicable, since the whole of the plain is commanded by the French artillery three hundred feet /above, on the heights of the Mcuse. The conditions thus described have not been in any way modified) as yet by the progress ot the German attack on the northern Verdun front, and it is therefore not easy to'account for such attacks as are reported on Lea Eparges.\ Possibly their importanco has been exaggerated, but it will be noted that several reports indicate that the Germans are now concentrating both against the Woeuvra front and the western flank of the Verdun position, in the region of ; Avbcourt, ten miles • west of the Meuse. The communiques state that in both areas the French artillery concentrated upon the onemy'3 lines of communication. Singled out for mention in this way, such action would imply exceptional enemy concentrations. '

That the Germans intend to follow up the Verdun offensive with a similar effort against the British line has yet to be established, but the attacks on the Ypres salient reported to-day may easily mean that their plans are taking snape in this direction. Reports as yet in hand on the subject are brief and poor in detail, but already there arc indications of something more than a local battle. It is stated that after a heavy bombardment the enemy launched infantry assaults against both the northern and southern shoulders of the salient, arid gained a littlo_ ground in both areas. At St. Eloi, which has lately been the scene of almost continuous fighting, the British lost two mine craters. The constant attention ihe Germans have lately paid to the Ypres salient and such attacks as are now reported are not easy to account for, unless on the assumption that a grand assault on the British lino is meditated.

As usually happens on such an occasion, the capture of Trebizoncl has given rise to some rather extravagant talk about the importance of the victory and it's probable results. Suggestions that the offensive move' rrient which has given the Russians Trebizond was a swift and unexpected stroke, and that it has made the Grand Duke Nicholas completely master of the situation, can only be described as absolutely misleading. The Russians have been visibly working forward towards Trebizond for weeks, and the Grand Duke is not yet free, as one message declares, to strike where he Will. More reliable news shows that the Russians are still heavily engaged in the mountain country west of Erzel'um, though they have gained another notable success in that region. As to the.general position, the Russians are, of course, a great deal better off for having gained a strong foothold on the Black Sea coast, but the way will not be clear for an.indefinite advance westward in Northern Asia Minor until' an end has been made of the danger of a Turkish counter-stroke in the south: As has been, pointed out, tho enemy would be greatly aided in such an enterprise by the existence of fihe Bagdad railway.