THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1917. THE ANZACS IN PALESTINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16503, 31 March 1917, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1917. THE ANZACS IN PALESTINE.

, Feom Auckland and Sydney to El [ Arish and Gaza is a far cry, yet " among the dramatic incidents of this stupendous war we have Australians and New Zealanders riding their sea-borne horses from Egypt to Palestine, and, with Imperial Yeomanry at their side, driving before them the oppressors of the Holy Land. The decisive victory of Tuesday last, in which the behaviour of! these now-famous horsemen was worthy of official mention though all engaged did their duty "splendidly," covers the further construction of the railway which is being pushed from the Canal north-east-wards, towards the Turko-German line by which an ambitious enemy recently dreamed of reaching and invading Egypt. It thus opens the gates of Palestine to British forces, and threatens not only the ancient land of Israel " from Dan even unto Beersheba," but the more northerly Syria, beyond which the Bagdad railway approaches the Mediterranean Sea. The strategical value of this advance in force is obvious. Both the British and Turkish railways in this region rest on the coast, and our troops are thus in touch with the sea from port to port. There is no waste of British military strength, for it is essential that the Canal shall be strongly held, and it is sound strategy to eraploy the covering force in pressing the enemy instead of wasting it in Cairo while the initiative is left to the Turko-German command. No better proof could bo wished of the altered and improved position of the Allied armies than the change which has taken place on the Egyptian front during the past two years. Before our Anzacs made their name at Gallipoli they held the Canal as a defensive moat against a Turkish attack that broke feebly on its banks. It is true that this Turkish advance was utterly hopeless, and withered away before the overwhelming strength of the . defence. Only one New Zealander —the first of a great company to : follow him—fell on that occasion, , but the Turks actually reached the . Canal, and actually launched on its : waters the iron boats they had :

; dragged ? with them oyer the desert. That was little more than -two years ago. The Turkish advance of; last year was more:pretentious, but it was met and defeated before it reached .the main defence, and the British front has since moved steadily forward. The wastes which form a natural barrier to Egypt from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Akaba have been swept of the enemy, and on ,the east we have linked up with the revolting Arabs, who have freed Mecca and Medina from the tyranny of the Turk. This Arab uprising has been made possible, and is being succoured against Turko-Geraian attack, by the steady British thrust along the Mediterranean coast. So occupied is the enemy that he has been unable to take advantage of the railway that runs Mecca-wards to the east of the Dead Sea. Arabia has passed from under Turkish rule. The British, with the Canal far behind them and a railway moving with them, have won before Gaza a victory which will be, told of in every bazaar in the East. i

The Ottoman Empire has long regarded its European frontier as its only vulnerable side. Among the influences which induced its Young Turk Government to support the Germans was the belief that all danger on tho European side would thus be removed, and that Caucasia could be regained from Russia, Egypt torn from the British, and Persia brought under the Ottoman yoke. It is not too much to.say that this scheme was brought to naught by the daring and persistence which transformed the desperate landing at Gallipoli into a menace which drew at a crucial period the full military strength of Turkey. It is in Asiatic Turkey that we must look for the fruits of Gallipoli; in Armenia and in Mesopotamia and in that Palestine where the remounted Anzacs are driving the Turks on a fair field. Armenia redeemed from a massacre which is without parallel in human history; Bagdad enjoying a law and order impossible under Turkish rule; Palestine, the Holy Land of Christendom and of Israel, watching the Cross looming above the Crescent: are significant not only of the turning tide of war, but also that the sacrifice at Gallipoli was not offered in vain.

THE SOUTHERN EXPRESSES.

The amended time-table of the Railway Services, which is stated to have been approved by the Cabinet, is a generally drastic reduction of facilities and corresponding economy of labour. In one important respect, however, it is open to the gravest objection, for it restores to the South Island that inexcusable superiority of Main Trunk service which was for years protested against by tho North. The two daily expresses between Christchurch and Duneclin are to be maintained as usual, the only alteration being that one of. them is not continued between Dunedin and Invercargill. This is a very gross

form of the sectional favouritism ivhich the South Island appears to consider its due, although its entire railway system is always carried on it a heavy loss. The reduction of me express daily on the double ourney between Auckland and Welington gives a saving to the Department of 852 railway miles, while ;he reduction of one express daily >n the double journey between Dunedin and Invercargill eaves >nly 273 railway miles. The infairness of this would be ntolerable enough if the South island main railway system paid its >wn way, but, as its invariable deicit has to be made up from the ixcessive profits extorted from the s'orth Island main railway system, re may fairly ask that Cabinet shall econsider its decision. That no nconvenience whatever should be uffered by travellers between Jhristchurch and Dunedin at a time when the Auckland - Wellington service is being reduced by one-half and great inconvenience is being imposed upon railway travellers in all other directions is surely indefensible. There are to be.no race or show trains, no theatre trains except on Saturdays, no Sunday trains, with various other unpleasant though necessary retrenchments ; but the ChristchurchDunedin service is to proceed as though there was no war and no need for economy. We shall doubtless hear as many arguments in favour of this double express service as are advanced on behalf of the Otira Tunnel—and as little sound reasoning.