GENERAL REVIEW

Grey River Argus, 11 June 1918, Page 3

GENERAL REVIEW

: ' -+» (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON. June 10. The ' following telegraphic review of the general war situation has been received by the Governor-General from the Secretary of State for the Colonies: — • AUSTRIA ON VERGE OF. DISRUPTION. Official nc\vs on the Bth June shows that reports from all sources prove that, but for German control. Austria would collapse by economic bankruptcy |and the- disintegration of the diverse nationalities/that are under the Hapsburg dominion. Owing to riots (due to Labour-troubles and food shortage) ■.'near Prague, in Bohemia, three hundred persons were ■ recently arrested, i The "Arbeitcr ZcituncV'- report Of 'the trial describes '61 ■'- of these persons as lean* and hungary-lqoking, working Women, with weeping children on their' laps : and' hitlt'-gr'pwM lads and ' girls. A ; growing fear of revolution has driven the Austrian Emperor more and more into the pbwef of Gcrmnay, GERMAN CONDITIONS. Are less critical) but are sufficiently bad to force the Military Authorities to seek an immediate decision. Once that failure to: achieve the annihilation of the Allies' Armies became apparent to the • German . people, and important reaction of the German opinion would follow. At present their partial mili- ; tary L successes enable •' the German Statesmen to revert theii? AMBITIOUS SCHEME of dominion in Europe and Asia. The only effective counter measure is to defeat German which is assured, now that the UNITED STATES throws her decisive weight into the scale The Military Committee b'f | tho American J House of Representatives has authorised the President to call up ah unlimited number of men. Over .250 000 tons' of new American ships were put into service during May. Over : £20,000.000 were subscribed by American citizens in a recent campaign to aid the American Red. cross \ The British Mission to SOUTH AMERICA was received with Inarked sympathy. In Buenos Ayres there Was a remark!- ! able street demonstration, in its hon- ' our, following an official .welcome. The enemy offensive ; ;ON THE AISNJi which commenced : oh Monday, 27th May, reached the. end of its first phase by the 'following Thursday night. Hitherto the .direction of the attack vfiiH tiiie south; anil it had penetrated jto the river Marne. the north bank of .which is now in the enemy's hands for t a distance of over ten miles, but jßlieims is still held by. the Allies on 1 other flanks, although Soissons was 'captured, the enemy was unable to drive the French from the high ground to the west of the town. The enemy then attempted to advance in v westerly direction, with the desire cither to widen the. deep salient in which he found i himself, or to . inarch on Paris. To attempt to cross the Marne with his front still pinched between. Soissous and Rheinis was dangerous and unprofitable By May 31st t.h<> Allies had the situation so well in hand in the next four days of fighting the ene i my only succeeded in advancing his front between Nbyoii and Chatteau Thierry to a depth averaging less than (six miles whilst west of Soissons the French regained considerable . ground by a counter-attack. From Tuesday June 4th onwards it was clear ..that the enemy ADVANCE WAS'HELD V I It is interesting to compare the three enemy offensives' of the Somme, the Lys and the Aishe. ,The Somme offensive opened on the 21st of March and reached its' zenith on the Ist April,and our stability was re-established by [the 7th' April— less thaii three weeks •in all. The enemy used 87 divisions. I The Lys offensive opened oh the 9th April and reached its zenith by the 18th 'It broke" * out afresh on the 24th and reach Stability oh the 29th. : Again three wrecks in all. Excluding the Kemmel attack, the enemy used 37 divisions in this operation. | The Aisne operation 1 opened on the 27th May; reached its zenith on the 31st; arid apparent stability was established on the 3rd June. During this 6"ffensivC ( the enemy used' between 40 and 50^divisions.; • ' This 'comparison suggests that the . ; • . 'i MAIN ENEMY OFFENSIVE of the 1918 attack was in the Somme area, whilst those at the Lys and tho j Aisne wore the exploitation; of unexpected opportunities. Perhaps these will cause the enemy to modify his driginal intention-, but the disposition of his reserves suggests that he is 'not so coinnlitted- to such a change. THE ENEMY STRATEGY ;so far has been, 'based. -on the advantage conferred by the interior position which stilient . formation at • the: battle iine has given him. He has now creutod three such salients and has thereby given tho Allies a similar situation- in intervals. This would operate to the' Allies advantage, should the'- enemy attempt to continue his ad- . varice on Paris. . , Whether, the enemy ■adheres to his ORIGINAL OB JECTiVE. ; of separating; tlio Allied Armies, by an . advance, down' tho Somnie Valley, or 'fehbuld His recent success draw him into an 'advance on Paris, his strategical objective will be identical, namely to. oblige the Allies to fight a decisive; battle this summer. '• While the Allied High Command can be trusted to assume a counterofffeiisive shoiild the situation lie suitable for the mbm cntsuch action would be likely to iiiVolye the Allied Armies in a , deeisivo battle before the American Army has developed its full strength- . The soundness of ; ' THE ALLIED POLICY, whifclr iS ; 6he of awaiting the development of <the .American Army is clearly deihqustratcd by the quality which these- troops have shown in the few srii'aMl engagements in which sections of the American Arhiy 'have hitherto been erigiagbd. The army's anxiety to force a decisive action is evidence that they hold the same view. : "■•• The Board' of Trade reports. a voluri-' tary ' agreement ' to modify"' the provisioning scale for seamen, A big econ-

, omy in food is! anticipated by eliminating waste, RESTRICTIONS IN INDUSTRY generally are proposed and wll come into force in Britain on June 10th. The working hours are to be reduced from 55 J to 40 per week for mills engaged on American cotton. Levies^ to compensate the unemployed, will be payable on every loom or spindle running, instead of on • the excess number over 40 per cent. To save coal 4 mills working 40 hours only must stop' all Saturday and Monday. • , FOOD ECONOMY. - The Food Ministry reports that the ■success in rationing schemes has caused a f demand for rationing other ar- ' tides in which there are local or temporary shortages. It has been decided to ration lard' as from 13th July at the rate of 2 ozsj per head pcrweek. Registration with tea retailers are allocated on the basis of 2 ozs weekly for each registered . customer. It is not proposed to ration individuals at present. Meat supplies from overseas continue to enable the Avaste to be avoided that is entailed by the slaughter of cattle in Britain for home consumption. A shortage of cheese still causes a serious . difficulty, particularly in the agricultural districts^ where substitutes cahiiot conveniently bo obtained. If the labour and weather conditions enable the estimates of increased home cereal supplies to be realised^ it will go far to compensate the Allies for inevitable losses in cereal acreage, consequent on the rcecnt German advance. IN THE AIR. The Air Ministry reports a marked increase in aerial activity by both sides on the Western Front. The weather during the past week was line though at times the sky was overcast and tho visibility poor. The Royal Air Force and the Australian • Flying Corps were enabled to surpass all previous bonibing recently during one week, in the battle zone % and on th» Belgian coast, a total of well over 270 tons of bombs were dropped, with excellent effect, and over 250.000 rounds Of ammunition was fired in almost continuous operations, day and night. Big railway functions, such as Vallencennes, through which the enemy's forward organisations are fed^ • were attacked repeatedly, and troops in rest billets- behind lines were constantly harassed by our bombers. Statements of prisoners and captured documents showthe success of these wearing tactics. L r seful reconnaissances and artillery work has been accomplished by our aeroplanes and kite balloons, in course of which over 10 f OO.O photographs wero taken. An' incessant bombing offensive has also been carried- out on Bruges, Ostend, Zeebrugge, and hits scored oh important navy and military works. The enemy strained every nerve to keep our bombers and reconnaissance machines from penetrating to their objectives^ and the air fighting has been severe.' During the .week 105 enemy aircraft* have been brought down, and 40 driven down out of control, whilst 20 of our machines: iuive failed to return. The acesendoncy of our scouts and two-seater lighters has thus been well maintained. Bombers penetrated the German, frontiers in 20 different raidsv,and dropped bombs on military objectives^ includinp 1 the munition factories at Mannheim, and the railway statoions and workshops at Karlsruhe/ Laudan Krentzwalne. and Karthans Evidence accumulates of tho growing moral and material effect produced.