THE HUNTLY PRESS. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1915. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1915. The War

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 4, 24 September 1915, Page 2

THE HUNTLY PRESS. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1915. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1915. The War

NEWS from the various Fronts and from England, while varying I in character from time to time, ' | has not been as reassuring of late days, as we could desire. Although the Russians are not retreating as fast now as they were a little while ago, and I although they are achieving some success in the southern area, and have now a stronger line than formerly, still the progress j of the war in the East can hardly be termed satisfactory, and ( there are few who are optimistic enough to say that all is well there. At the Dardanelles, our forces i are holding own, and are i even ma'L. y some piogres'*, i but it is at a cost which, to say the least is tremendous. Iu tue west there is practically i nothing doing. The positions i held to-day, are practically those heldsome six months ago, and the j war seems to have resolved it- • self into a game of patience. At sea things are in a more satisfactory state, but in rather a negative sense, if we except the 1 various bombardments which ' have taken place and have had : sues saLsrac.ory Results. A yer.r ago if anyone had 1 prophesied that things would bo ' in their present state at this 1 stage, lie would have been looked 1 upon by most people as being • more or less deluded But now, after nearly fourteen 1 months of war, we are face to face with the tact lliat we are , not making the progress that f most people expected and that, j instead of now be: u.; in a position [ to steadily push the enemy hack, ( it is taking us all our time to . r hold our positions, and in some i parts of the theatre of war, our j allies are unable to hold u, | % against the enemy. I , Why is it lhat two powerful g nations, assisted by one v hiob J was not supposed to bo powerful, but which lias been able 0 hold our armies.at bay for man t months, should be able to In.: I in cheek, four of the nit: : t powerful nations in Europ > 1 assisted by two others not so it powerful? i a At first glance, i seems re- j 1 markable, but on second thoughts J 1 one sees only too plainly, that j i the reason is that with our j e enemies, every man, and even j a the women and children, are | 5: heart a cl soul in the war, and jc each and every one i i doing | a his or her best, either in the . a firing line or in the nnrutiou | li factory, to help their n.,, a to J b victory, while with is, although j r we have any , am aunt of lip j c ■loyalty, there is a huge percent- j b age that, is doing nothing to help j n

matters on, and a smaller percentage which neither helps in the war, nor will help those who have gone to the war.' If the people of the British Empire were sincere what they say about the war./ and j their desire to s:e it b,/ought 1 to a victorious cow --ion for us and if they real ' . > truly ser’ous positions a. ah our armies and the, . ' on are placed, there wo : i » need for talk of . ow. V 1-ier would there be i a. tidily a meal for men and ra "ay wb ; is being made now, and of to with small result. The Empire lit s given he voluntary system a long trial, and although it ha; not yet tailed, it shows abuo.va it signs of failing, and it woal.! ippear now that the Mat ion is confronted with the ie natives of either,extending the age limit so as to allow of o ■ man and boys enlisting, or conscription. We trust that conscription will be unnecessary, but if it is necessary, it will be the fault entirely of those who have failed to do their duty under the voluntary system. If every man in the Empire had dne ills duty either at the bench or in the trench, victory by this time would be assured. We are convinced that victory will yet rest with us, but at a cost which can be fairly laid ct th~ door of the man,who, lor any reason, has failed to do his duty.