Northern Advocate Daily WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE Northern Mail Daily. WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1915. PEACE RUMOURS.

Northern Advocate, 21 July 1915, Page 2

Northern Advocate Daily WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE Northern Mail Daily.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1915. PEACE RUMOURS.

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How much reliance can be •(hired upon the rumours regarding Germany's desire for peace ii is difii.-uit to say. Whether ,l"-.'-;e ri'i'irrls have had their foundation in (Ici'iiuiny or whether ihey have simply been born of optimistic .speculation among the Allies ii is impossible to say. But recently there has been a growing mention in the cable news of" peaer being in the wind. It is pleasant, indeed, to contemplate [he spectacle of a broken and contrite Germany suing for peace, discarding her Avicked spiril of militarism and sinking humbly and for all time, into a fifth-rate power. But stern facts give e.s no such comforting assurance. The facts as they stand to-day show Germany light ing with undiminished vigor. At the beginning of the war she over-ran Belgium and entered Prance. At the conclusion of nearly a year's fighting; she still possesses Belgium and her armies continue to dig their trenches upon French soil. It is true that the mad dash through to •-Paris and Calais was checked, but if the enemy has not progressed since the time they were first held up by the Allies it is equally true that they have not been driven back. Months ago the Russian steam roller was to crush its way through from the East, but here again stern facts must be acknowledged, shirk them how we may. The onward march of the Russians was not only cheeked but they have been driven back with relentless vigour into their own territory.. That Russia may recover and wear down the enemy does not come into the picture as ii: stands to-day. Austria, which was supposed to have been beaten to her knees many months ago, has not only progressed against the Russians but is also holding up the Italians in the Tyrol passes. Lastly we have the fact the vast German resources have enabled her to strengthen Turkey, not only with munitions, but with men." This is written in no spirit of pessimism. It is just a bald st a lenient of the facts as they stand to-day after nearly a year of warfare. Just how long this position will remain unchanged is a big field for speculation, flow long can Germany s!and the enormous strain placed upon her n -,ou;ves. With the Allies firmly de; ■■■•mined (o make no sepavale pea-, c how can Germany possibly hope to crush the combine in. the. field against her. Given extended victories in Rus- j sia can she spare the men to conquer tho. country.' She may make inroads into Russia, but she is only weakening herself in doing so and the drain upon her.fighting men mus! begin to tell its tale. The war is estimated to be costling Germany .iiJ -10.000.000 p«r month and she can have no hope whatever of raising money outside her own borders. Her commercial, credit is already showingsigns of grievous weakening if we may ' believe American criticism. Then, how is she to meet the toll upon her rank and file. A neutral critic dealing

with this phase of the question j says: "Here once move wo are j upon dubious ground. -She is ;i (ready calling upon untrained men. hut the untrained ov partially trained German seems r.o fight as well as his trained eoml'iide. It would probably be safe to assume thai: the total number j o! (rained and 'untrained men at j i'iu' disposal of Germany was somewhere in the neighbourhood of it.OOU.OOU, of whom nearly 4 0<)0.(.)00 were , pvaetically untrained. At the end of February she had about 6,f>00,000 under arms, but from these we mn.si deduct the hilled and permanently disabled Her losses in this way probably amount to 1.700.000. an average of about 21"),000 men per month. Allowing another half million men for convalescenls. she would have at the present time about 4.300.000 men actually on the line. This would leave a reserve of *2..">00.000 wholly untrained men who would shave to lu l called away from es-■ senlial occupations. and who could not therefore be relied upon except to make good deficiencies. Probably it would be safe to assume that Germany will not at any time in tho future be able to keep more than 4,000,000 - in the field, and this for not more than a few months. And when we have made all allowances for the fighting quality of the German soldier this seems inadequate for the increasing needs of the situation." After pointing out that Prance has called up her last drafts to the colours the same critic holds that the responsibility must rest more and more with England. We have been slow and sluggish, he says, but England now "understands that Germany regards her as the chief enemy and that she must either shoulder as heavy a burden as she can or go under. If Germany could take and hold Calais and Dieppe it would be the end of England. And England has the men. We do not know how many she has landed in France, but probably she has now about 2,500,000 under arms. England can replace every man lost by France and Titissia. and with better ureD than the Russians. England alone can put as many men into the field as the whole present' German army. She can bring great hosts from India, and still other hosts from Canada. Australia and . New Zealand. If the burden must devolve from France and Belgium to England it can still be carried.'' This, is surely true enough for the British Empire still contains millions of subjects willing to serve, our financial resources are unimpaired and our commercial credit is as good as before the war. A collapse of the Ottoman empire appears to be. on the cards as a very, probable early happening and thus (lie net will be drawn still move closely around the Austro-Gev-u:au union. But trench fighting has proved to be mighty slow work and if German resources can hold out there may be many weary monfhs of struggle ahead. The enemy has gone too far now to turn .back. Defeat means national destruction. Knowing this they will fight like cornered rats, and unless something in the nature of unexpected happens Germany will most probably bleed to death in the trenches she now holds.