PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3053, 14 April 1917, Page 8

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The.United States Government is bringing ( 'big- : business", methods to. bear upon the submarine problem in a fashion that promises valuable results.. . As.Me. Lloyd George has said, absoluto assurance ;9f victory will be' found- in one word—ships. And America, is setting herself to produce ships at.maximum speed. A big- programme - 'of' merchant shipr. building .was taken- in. hand last; year, and it has. been; estimated that by the coming summer standardised' ships aggregating a million-tons willhave been- launched from American yards. It is now proposed to very greatly improvo upon this rate of construction. General Goethals, who superintended the construction of the Panama Canal, has been appointed to . direct a shipbuilding scheme under which something liko a thousand wooden ' ships. of two thousand tons and upwards 'will be Wilt during the next twelve months. According to Mr. Lloyd. George the proposal isto build'a-.tho'usand 3000tonne'rs. A programme of this magnitude will,' of course, entail the. laying' l down of new'plants, but there is no reason to'suppose' that it will.overtax. America's' 1 productive capacity, and_ its promise'is obvious. In normal circumstances soft-wood •ships are qu.t-of date ): but they will admirably, meet, the 'conditions that-' exist-.to-day. -If'the-projected rate of' construction-; • .-.is ; -attained three million tons of new-.'American shipping will be available within _ the year, apart from ships of a considerable aggregate tonnage that are already in hand in American yards. Such an accession of mercantile tonnage, together with the expedited ■construction of ships-in Britain and in some-neutral-countries.-and Jthe seizure of interned enemy shippifig,: should go far not only to neutralise" but to outpace the destruction effect-, ed by the No programme of _ shipbuilding, however vast, will iii itself defeat the submarine campaign. That is to beaccomplished only_ by vigorous measures of repression, and the consideration has' hot. been' overlooked in drawing up ' the' American pro-, gramme. It is"an important item' in the programme that the ships are to be armed.' They wi_ll_ represent not only a valuable addition to the merchant tonnage available to the Allies, but anuddition to_ the .armed force by the use of which it is hoped to' decisively defeat Germany's piratical enterprise.

lu the complex and critical situation which obtains in Russia .-the chief question awaiting a" definite answer concerns the attitude of thearmy. If the army maintains its discipline and organisation unim.7 paired no great harm may be dono by the distempered agitation- of fanatical extremists who fail to" realise that national' '.discipline-'is riot only - compatible with, freedom, but essential- to its enjoyment. It is- therefore distinctly good news that a deputation from tho Russian armies has been sent to Petrograd to demand, tho dissolution of the Workmen's Committee on the ground that it is undermining discipline. The outcome has yet to appear, but it is stated that the deputation has issued a' proclamation emphasising the army's firm attitude. If tho army .assumes command of the situation an end should soon bo made of such follies, to use no harsher term, as tho meeting of Russian and German Socialists at Stockholm which is reported " % to-day. Judging by the statement in a- Copenhagen message that the annexation of portions of Western Russia is mentioned in kiteflying peace proposals, which havo lately emanated from-Germany,, it would seem that no great importance:

is attached by the , enemy to. the Socialist reunion. If Germany had hopes of forwarding an intrigue for a separate- peace ..with Russia through the agency of the Socialists questions of annexing .Russian territory would presumably be kept discreetly in the background.

A. continued pause, in. -major operations is reported on the British front in Northern France. Wet' and stormy weather is hampering the offensive, and the enemy is granted a breathing-space, but' in such circumstances as suggest that he will hardly be able to turn it to profitable account. Messages which .touch upon the.location' and character of. the Jine on which the armies now stand between Lens and Arras and further south deserve-particu-lar attention. The situation of the enemy is in more ways than one extremely _ unfavourable. The fact is by this time, familiar that tho Britisharc in possession of high and dominating positions on a front of nine miles, from the northern end of the Vimy ridgo to Monchy-le-Preux,-south of the Searpe. They also hold the higher ground at most- points along the front between Arras 'and St. Quehtin. It is ' only les's important that the development of the attack has had the effect of creating two. narrow and vulnerable salients in the enemy line—one of them south-west of Lens and the other south-east of Arras—while the British front in tho battlc r area is singularly free from any such weakness. Ins'tead- of a comparatively narrow wedge being driven.into the, enemy front-7-a procedure which to some extent invites effective counterattack—the offensive has been developed •fcn a broadening front,, against which the enemy counter-, attacks in almost 'every instance have broken in vain. The nearest approach to a salient in the British line is. tho. not •• very pronounced bulge in which it is thrown, forward .east of Arras,"but immediately to the 'south the enemy line forms an | acute' wedge' which would be-weak' and exposed to-attack even-if it were I not dominated, as. .it is, ..by high, ground on north and south. The s German salient south-west of-Lens is' similarly .dominated :>by-. the', high. f round at the northern end of. the imy. ridge. Another ' important feature of tho position is that from "Henin-sur-Oojeul, south-east of Arras, the British line makes a sharp • turn, and runs south-east to the Bapaume-Oambrai road. This means in a word that across eight miles of country tho British are facing -into the flank .of the German line to which they. stand opposed further north. . **. # * The enemy's prospects of standing firm on such a line when the offensive is resumed are no doubt to be measured by the fact that at the beginning of tho week ho was overwhelmingly defeated, and thrown out of a range of positions which left hardly anything to be desired from the defensive point _of view. His present line is so obviously vulnerable that-he'.might be expected in ordinary circumstances to volun-Wrily.abaTidph.it'-for a better. In; particular, hp -might be .expected to evacuate, "the. .salients mentioned; which he canriot_ hope to. hold .for long, and .in which, so long as his clefenoo. continues, he must count upon suffering maximum losses. That he, has up. to, the present taken nosiich action.incticatesthat-he'feels;; 'itnecessary at'.ever'y sacrifice to'delay the British forward movement 'into the network of communications south of Lille.' The desperate efforts 'j he is making. to this end,. notably "the. costly, and abortive counterattacks he.- has. made. on. different sections" of the line, are't6 t .he'.oon-. sidcred- -with -the-'fact in..wind that 'the policy- • which-, the •' Germans. had evidently -intended .-.to pursue- this year in the Western theatre was on© of gradual retreat and a minimum expenditure of "force.

What detail news is available at time of writing all goes to emphasise these general aspects of the. situation. Further counter-attacks by the enemy have been decisively repelled,'and the British have pushed north from .the Vimy ridge, accentuating- the salient'»-in the enemy's, line soutK-west of Lens. It is 'now reported that the -British have captured Wanecourt and Heninel, villages situated in the forward area of the salient which has been mentioned', south-east of Arras. The fact that prisoners were, taken- from all the regiments of six-'German divisions on the. comparatively narrow front- on- which the offensive developed on Mondayand Tuesday is an indication of the desperate efforts the Germans made to avert defeat-aiid.the.loss..of vital, positions; -■"■-.'-■'■'•- -- -.-■--■ ■■ -----