ESTABLISHED 1366. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, OCTOBER. 21, 1915 THE NEAR EAST.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 250, 21 October 1915, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1366. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, OCTOBER. 21, 1915 THE NEAR EAST.

Mr. iV&hmc»d Bartlett's outspoken comments upon the Dardanelles campaign, hove, we believe, created a feeling of no small anxiety in the p-iiHic mind, not or<ly in tho Old Country but in New Zealand. We are glad to notice that the Prime Minister has considered it his duty to. deprecate "anything in the nature of alarmist suppositions on' the flimsy br.sis provided by unofficial reports. The Empire," said' 'Mr Massey, '•would at any rate not grow ' fainthearted because tho losses had l.een heavy and the victory was not yet won.' That is the right spirit to permeate a Primp Minister's utterances when tha ■ c-ro&ker and the pessimist are abroad in the land, and. wo tcngrati.late Mr Massey upon its exact expression. Because Mr Ashmead Bartlett has witnessed certa n engagements at Gallipoli,! and has \«ntten some eloquent and inspiring descriptions of the splendid gallantry displayed by our men, that is no reason why he; should be accepted a«, j\ heaven-I'Cin authority on European diplomacy, .ond an expert critic on the general plan of campaign, or that the public should jump: to the conclusion that the situation of the Allies on the Peninsula is such as to afford grounds for belief in a serious impending disaster to -our arms in that region. At the same time, there are, it mast be admitted, certain disconcerting eireuir str.nces in connection not ouly with the I>ardsu:elles campaign but wiih the newly-commenced campaign in aid of the sorely-picssod Serbs. whir-h make for a certain degree of public anxiety. JX ring the last fortnight the cjsiiiltv lilt's have been so small that it is plainly evident that no rew «dvnnce on the part of the Allies is feing attempted. Whether | this implies a confession on the part of the Allied commanders that further progier-; is -\t present iirpossible, whether it is to be taken as inferiing that the Peninsula is being gradually depleted of troops which {•re being transferred to Salonika— which latter supposition is in conflict with leports fiom Athene—or whether, yet again, .a large number of our troops, up till row engaged in attacking the Tin ks inland fiom Suvfa. Ray. havo boon, or are in cours-j oF beino;, trr.nsferrori to Enos, where ihe Allies iii-o said, to l:ave landed a force, must for the present remain n mystery. There i.s nothing, however, in any one of the three suppositions to warrant any dismal forebodings of the Now Zealfr.c?r>rs or Australians m the *Vninsu!n boin«r "wipnd oi-.l" or tMifferinir pftne terrible 'li^nsti-r .is the result of retirement. Tt would be futile to iMfl!il(_'o in any detailed Kooeuhition :is to tht> aet-ual cause-; >[ General Sit- Tun Hamilton's retire

ment from his command at the Dardanelles. Until we l?nov tlu: actual facts of tho case it would be unfair to accept ..the retirement as being really due to "deposition. Judg ment and lurmise alike must be vith-■held'-until we have further information. . Turning now to a consideration i;i the Balkan situation, there is fasr reason for a ii ore ■ cheerful ouLlook than has been apparent during the last week \or ten days. Greece, it is true, has not joined the Allies, .md the inture attitude of the Government is still in doubt. It has beoti suggest* d that the Allies will attempt; to force tho restoration ol M. Venezekk- to power *w seizins; Piraeus ond .certf.in. islands m j.!ie Sea. at the same time placing the whole Greek coast under a striot blockade. Tt is doubtful, however, whether much practical good woul-1 be effected by siich an heroic cure for the Greek distpmper of doubt and delay. If. not exactly with us, Greece is at'least not actively against us. This is proved by the landing of tht, Allied forces at Salonika and the employment of tlio Greek Macedonian railways to convey British and Freno'i troops" to Serbia." King Cbnsfanfcine. no doubt, it. in tVnntically active coninn.i ie aticn witli. Berlin, and certair London papers 'openly advocate the sternest measures 'being''■-taken by Biitish and French 'warshijjs to prove to the Greek meharch.that despite all 4he travado of : "his. German brother-in-law Jtlie Kaiser could, just nov; at least, render him ro assistance .yero British "ships to bombard Piraeus, and

British influence, to bring about a revolution —no improbable event— which would resist, in Constantine's deposition. /•'ficbrding to one ai.thoiity, a Biilgt. nan statesman, so the frtc-vy goes, Greece is, like Rou-

mania, playing a waiting game. Should the Serbs, with the assistance of the Allies;1 succeed in withstanding the dual onslaught of the Austro■Gttit f>ns f-nd the Bulgarians, Greece might, it is thought,.come to the conclusion that it is to her best interest-; to join forces with the Allies /md assist in encpn.pasfiing the downfall of her ancient enemy,' -the Turk. -Mt.elr depend-; upon the course w hie.l) Roumania may pursue. The Roumanians, as a people, i:re cj«:n'l7 anxious to join in the war, but that arch-opnortunist. M. Bratiami, th'^ir Pi ime^ Minister, has not* iup to th« present, considered it \vise ho intervene A few days agp it was report--id that Gei'iiiahy v Ks jiuttirig pressure on RoumaT:ia to penni'b the transport or anunitions to Turkey, and that foil'n« to obey 'the pleasure of the- War Lord at Potsdam Roumania must be pr*- • pared to pay thi; penaltyyof iny asir.n by an .Aiistro-German, force. At Bucharest^ hbweyer, just *}£ well -■'.s at Vienna and Beilin, it is welll'mcier. ptood that there: is ',{i great difference between ma>ing threats of '.invasion and the ability to carry fuch threats into", execution. So far from eicher Germany or Austria, or both, beint; able at present to spare the necessary force for such a hazardous adventure.

it is extremely dc-xittfui whether'the> have sufficient men fo spare fpi" their operatiens against the. Serbs. In Polwid, and further .sbuth, the Ce»inans are being very' liardly pros^cci by the Ri w.hp s)j>pear to i« imbi:ed with a, lnarVpllous accession

if-n->w fighting f-piiitijiid strength, ond are aided, n-cjeoyer, by a seem ingly plentiful supply Of .muhitions We caen -lead of Russian divisiims Lhieau'iiing: n ■r^-ijay^si'in of TrauF.ylvanin and Bu'l-ovina. If this throat

becomes..an.accomplished fact it will Rurely exercise .t verf, striding effect upon the niind of, M.-Bratiann and his Government, for, with 'a,new".Huswajij offpiif-iye upon Vl a '.vx-ari'sd and weakened:foe, Eoumania would h*

comparatively safe in deciding to proceed at cnce to the assistance-of the Serbs. A Rdumaiiion attack from' the

rtrth wculcl place the 'Bulgarians already opposed by the Allies in <li<;

south-west, in a very •awkward, position. Aport from this, the entry" t»f Roiunania into the struggle w-jiud enablo.,Russia to \;se •.he Roumaniisn railway.' for tb-j transport of a substantially stron,; force to jet against Bulgirin. Were Roumania to "hi'a* tho plunge" and t.oldly and practically co-operate with the Allies of the, Ententrt, "Kat s miserable schemer. King Ferdinand.;.would soon, wo believe, bo hurrying off to Austria—if he could get N there—in the armored

motor-tar witli which his benevolent friend at Berlin is reported to have presented him. Tho reported landing of the "Allies at Enos seems to show, that there has teen sonic exaggeration in the complaints of tlu» "croaker press"1 in |3ngland that thn forces necessary for successful operations m the Balkans were ludicrously sirall. Fcr a land

ing at Enos ca-not -very well affect the Bnlgfuian' &nd Serbian struggle No doubt (ne objective is the capture of D'edeagatch, a port a little to the nor:h-west, whence a railway l^ne rur.-s pastw ards tor Constantinople and westwrids to Salonika. A second ano more important objective is, it maf fairly be surmised,'.the capture of the Bulair lines at the, Turkish end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. If this surmise prove correct, not niany days should pass before we receive pome very sensational news frcm the Dardanelles. For the time being, However, the paucity of available information precludes further, comment on the new situation which is clear'tv in courso of creation; in the Gallipoli region. Reviewing . th<! general nosi tion in the Balkans, and at Gallic oli with thoughtful care, we nuist arrive at the conclusion that although there is much that remains unpleasantly uncertain and vague and not a 'little that is reasonably productive of temporal y anxiety, there is nothing mi the Htifition as & ivhvle which Var rants any feplin<?; of pessimism or the indulgence in alarmist fears and oro dictions •