Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GOSBORNE, THURSDAY,AUG,22,1918. THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14689, 22 August 1918, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY E VEN ING. GOSBORNE, THURSDAY,AUG,22,I9IB. THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE.

General Foch has evidenlly made up his mind to give, the enemy no rest for the remaining fe^r w.eeks of tho year during raliich figliting can be carried on on the Western' front. Day after day fresh bWs are ' struck, and all the while a strong pressure is maintained against tlie enemy all the -way from the sea to the Vosges. Tlie Germans, realising what is to come to- them, have been gradually falling back to stronger defensive positions, but their retirement m all cases has not been a matter of! choice, it has been hastened by the sledge-hammer blows that Foch is SHinering. To-day's news is distinctly cheering. The British Third Army under General Byng has made a distinct advance on the river Ancre and positions slightly to tlie north-east of Bapaume have been won. Names that were so familiar to ns m the old Sbmme push of 1916 are coming back again— Co-ur'celles, Beaucouri, Abladnzeville, and the two Achiets— le Petit and le Grand— are mentioned to-day as having been taken. The toll of prisoners is sure to be heavy, and' the number of guns captured is reported as large. Further south between the Oise and the Aisne the French have been pushing their offenave with great suocess. General Mangm is evidently, a brilliant fighter' and despite strong opposition is, iwirining his way forward and recovering much territory for France. Tlie latest- advance is on c of four kilometres on a 25-kilometre front. .The pi-Lsoners taken^ number eight thou- : sand, making the total bag for the two days 10,000. Tliis is what counts more than the actual gain of ground, for it denotes a steady decimation of 'the eiiemy forces. The prisoners taken will onty be a percentage of the killed and wounded, and the German casualties must be mounting up to such an extent as to seriously cripple the enemy's powers of defence, and certainly to put away the suggestion, that ho will be. able' to regain the offensive mice more this year. With the- depletion of the German reserves which is assuredly taking place the Allied reserves are "steadily being built up to such an extent that "General Foch may be tempted to \ make the pace even ihlotter before JtJie winter conies on, though prudence -may suggest a holding back of major operations until next spring, when with the American army iiii great strength, he iWill be m a position to administer the coup de grace. Meantime we can rest well content with the way things are going., The critical hour of the war has certainly, passed, and tho enemy, with his great preparations and desperate enterprises on a huge ■ scasle, has won no strategical objective. As Mr. Bonar Law stated m his speech to the delegates of the Parliamentary Commercial Conference on July 6t3i, the Germans possessed 1 the most peffect military machine that- ever existed 1 , but he believed when the history of th© Avar is written it will be found that Germany lias made greater military mistakes than any other Power. He instancjed the submarine warfare, which brought the United States into tlie war, and doubted whether Germany would, get out of Russia, as much as she expected. Wherever the German soldier had 1 planted his foot the name of Germany was loathed for generations. Mr Bonar Law said lie trembled to think what .would have been .tin©" position of the Allies after Russia went out of the ; war but .for the help of the United States, Ho had not despaired of Russia, which was like a patient m a de'liriuni. It was impossible from hour to hour to tell what the future might bring m Russia. The population of the. enemy powers was 154,000.000. that of the Entente Alliance 1,200,000,000. Tliat m itself was a league of nations with a - military force that was terrible, but the economic force also was strong. Of one tiling, he said, there was no doubt, just as the Allies were standing together now, so would they stand when the war was over to. repair th© ravages of thewar. * Tlie Chancellor concluded : "I see no immediate hope of peace. ; Thero is no road to it, I tear, except the rugged road through victory. It will be fatal to the would -and to the Germans themselves if they are not taught the lesson that .war does not pay." "Since- Whose worda were uttered there have\been v the final battles of the Marne, the 'battles m the Montdidier-Noyon sector, battles on theSomme, the German retirement before Albert, and further retirements -m the Lys 'sector, and' "at other places along the line. Now come other sanguinary defeats for the enemy. Tho Allies are Surely and successfully traversing, the rugged road through to victory. Tlie 'Germajis are getting the lesson they askejl for and which, they most richly deserved. They will know even before 'this year is out that war doe's not pay. ,-.■: -^— — - A