The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1917.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4476, 17 February 1917, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1917.

The splendid optimism reflected in Sir Douglas Haig’s latest references t to the war should go a long way towards removing any dissatisfaction that may have arisen as a sequel to the complaint that the march of events for the Allies on the West Front has been much slower than had been anticipated. Sir Douglas Haig would never have committed himself to a statement so reassuring if he had not the very best grounds to go upon. He is nothing if not extremely cautious in the matter of his views on the war. Nobody can accuse him of having at any time raised false hopes as to the probable result of any intended operations. In the circumstances the utmost weight must be attached to Sir Douglas Haig’s latest utterances. What is especially gratifying on the point is that the British Commander-in-Chief has gained the sublime—almost blind—faith and confidence of the rank and file, as well as of all the officers, front the highest to the lowest, in the grand armies which he leads.

‘“The Man Who ' Can Whack the Boche.”

“This, happy'position of affairs,' 5 recently, wrote a member of the ■Gfeneral Headquarters Staff, “had its origin from the dark days when Britain’s initial Expeditionary Force just went into action in France. It is the leaven off, faith of the First Army which has permeated tlie whole. For days and nights, which ran into weeks, during- those awful days of the first battle of Ypres, when every batman and the last cook from the field kitchens had .been flung into the trenches, hi 9 contact with all ranks was of so close and intimate a nature that his presence among them then has left an indeliblo impression. t

“The full story of those awful days has yet to be told, but I think I ain breaking no confidence in telling to-day of General Haig’s fervent conviction. Every ounce of i British resistance was being strained to breaking point, every means that military genius—backed only by shell-famished guns—could devise had been requisitioned; mo human power could do more. “God . alone can save us,” were the words often on his lips, and no one to-day acknowledges more humbly that superatural aid was accorded than General Haig himself. It was the help of God for a man who had helped himself.” | And what does Sir Douglas Haig now say ? He stakes his illustrious reputation on the belief that the Briti&h and French armies will whack j the Boche on the West Front this year. He goes further: he holds to j the view that the events on the far-! flung West Front during 1917. will decide the whole war. To him all j the Hu n threats of frightfulness are as nothing. They arise from a knowledge that the Allies are to-day well in the ascendancy. Those critics of the Somme operations who declared that the Allies would go no further at that point have already been proved poor prophets. Hardly had they given voice to their pesimistic utterances than the Allies have made several further big ‘“nibbles” at the expense of the Huns. As to the character of the new offensive for this year Sir Douglas Haig is very properly reticent. He says it won t matter which side takes the initiative, and if the Huns attack first their move will be welcomed. This represents a totally different state of affairs from what happened twelve months ago when the Huns opened their vigorous offensive before *the Allies were quite ready. To-day the Allies are ready and are merely marking time to suit their own convenience. In due course the clash will eventuate in grim earnest, and nobody need have any doubt as to what will he the result. Many people, perhaps, do not sufficiently icalise the importance of the Somme operations It was not a case a single victory: it was a victory for the Allies every time an advance was essayed. This year the operations, it is clear, will be on a much bigger scale, and the gains, too, will be correspondingly larger. Sir Douglas Haig is not misleading the British public, and his forecast is amply supported by the fact that the Huns, by introducing piracy on the widest possible scale, are making a last throw with a view to thwarting the Allies’ plans. This year, it may be taken for certain, will witness the end of the Huns’ military, as well as their naval, menace. May it be so '