PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3190, 14 September 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Much of the- news from Russia, to-day consists of confident proclamations issued by M. Kerensky, and denunciations of General Korniloi'f as a self-seeking rebel and traitor. It , is quite clear, however, that this is only one side of the story, and that tho situation has yet to be subjected to a definite test. The effect of the proclamations is weakened by news that tho forces of tho Provisional Government, now seemingly reconstituted, are busied in measures for the defenco of Petrograd. At the same time, while his critics portray General Korniloef as a discredited adventurer, and even assert that ho is intent on mounting tho throne, that officer has issued a proclamation in which he states that hia one desire is to bring the country out of the present impasso and "lead it along the road to fortune," and swears that he will only hold power until the Constituent Assembly has been elected. His declared aims are on all fours with those of M. Kerensky when he says that it is time to cease playing with tho country's fate. That is painfully clear, but there is still a good deal to suggest that a military dictatorship is the best remedy in sight. However, the actual position and relative strength'of tho eontending factions are simply not'disclosed in tho news as it stands_ at time of writing. The only thing clearly established is that the state of affaire at the capital and in the Baltic Provinces is calculated to fatally impair efficiency on the fighting front, 'and it is decidedly tho best evidence of German exhaustion yet afforded that tho enemy has not ere now developed the opportunity by which he is faced to better purpose.

A marked improvement on the figures of recent weeks is shown in the latest return of British shipping sunk by mine and submarine. As compared with the previous week tho total number of snips sunk has

dropped from 23 to 18, but the best feature of the return is that losses of big' ships (over 1600 tons) have fallen from 20 to 12. At the same time arrivals and departures touch the highest point reached for eight weeks, and tne'number of unsuccessful attacks shows an increase en the figures of recent weeks. A sudden decline in losses is not always maintained, but a. sudden decline succeeding, as it does on this sion, to a period in which losses had been steadily rising ■ for several weeks has sometimes proved to be of moro than passing importance as indicating the general trend of the campaign. *** # .

One factor amongst, others which promises to set limits to the enemy submarine campaign is the adhesion of an increasing number of neutrals to the Allied causo, The fact that the northern sea-lanes along neutral coasts have been invaluable to the pirato raiders is _ familiar, aud a recent report which inferred that the submarines are unable to make their way from tho German bases into the North Sea except with the assistance of mine-sweepers to clear a path cannot be regarded as conclusive. There is little doubt that

if Norway elected to join the Entente the northern route could-be closed to the underwater craft much more effectively than at present. Another neutral whose attitude has an important bearing on the submarine campaign, though on somewhat different grounds, is Spain. Writing as recently as last June, Mr. Aethtjr Pollen remarked that

if tho Spanish Press is to bo trusted, it is hardly to bo doubted that the enemy's submarine campaign, both in tho Bay of Biscay and in the Mediterranean, has largely been made possible by the help that Spanish sympathisers have- afforded to tho pirate crews. "Nothing has been published about any representations on this subject to the Spanish Government by our Foreign Office, ,, he added, "but it is quite- unnecessary to remind tho reader, whether such protests have been made ornot, should it be proved—and again I say if the Spanish Press is to be trusted, tho evidence is irresistible— that such help has been given and that the Government has been negligent in permitting it, a situation results in which tho _ Spanish Government is responsible for tho losses which submarines so assisted have caused. On this point the precedent of the Alabama claims is final." It is not impossible that tho apprehension of heavy demands for compensation and the influence and example of tho South American Republics with which she has ties of kinship and commerce may induce Spain to depart from her past attitude, at least to tho extent of vigorously rooting out submarine bases along her coasts. Self-respect and interest equally impel her in this direction, and if she yields to these influences she will greatly strengthen and assist the Allies in their anti-submarine campaign. A recent report to the effect that an enemy submarine compelled to put into a Spanish port for lack of essential supplies was to be interned, possibly, implies that Spain is be-

latedly adopting the policy which her obligations as a neutral demanded from the outset.