The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1915. THE WAR.

Southland Times, Issue 17468, 24 March 1915, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1915. THE WAR.

Tlte reports to hand this morning record continued success along the Western front. individually these gains arc small, hut collectively they arc important. They indicate that the Allies arc slowly pushing their way towards many points that they wish to hold. In general the position in 1 France is to-day very similar (o that I which existed in September, and the ! north of France is still in the enemy's hands. But at this point and that the Allies have captured an important gun position, or taken a village, or crossed ' a stream, or established themselves a i few miles nearer a railway or a highi way that is essential to the enemy's I communications. All the time the weight of the Allies' numbers lias been kept upon the enemy, driving home in his mind the conviction that the task ho has undertaken is too big for him. The Allies have made notable progress at many points, for instance in the Champagne district and Upper Alsace, and the satisfactory aspect of the news now coming to hand is that the Allies offensive seems to ho becoming more insistent and more severe upon the enemy. Tho Germans have been heavily punished at Bagatelle and have suffered losses at other points. 1 lie abortive air raid upon Paris has provoked an extraordinary vigorous retaliation. Along practically the whole front, from Belgium to the Vosges, the French and British aeroplanes have sallied forth to bomb railway stations, aerodromes, batteries, stores, and factories. Essen, the home of the great Krupp works, was one of the places visited. The Germans, unable to attack the Allies towns or warships, have resorted to dropping bombs on merchant ships in the North Sea, and a Taube endeavoured to wreck a ship carrying stores to the distressed Belgians. There is evidence that Germany's methods of dealing wdth shipping are making some of tho neutral Powers very angry. Even Holland is asking blunt questions in a very

minatory tone of voice. The German claim that all the naval losses of the war have been repaired may be dismissed as pure bluff. The London Times does not exaggerate in describing the attempt to force a passage through the Dardanelles as “perhaps the most formidable operation ever undertaken in naval warfare.” Even in the wars of a hundred years ago when fortress guns and defences were less "effective than they are now a fight between shore batteries and ships Was considered unequal, and expert writers agree that under modern conditions such an engagement is one-sided. But the British Navy in this war has proved that naval guns are more powerful than was anticipated. ' The monitors and battleships on the Belgian coast have wrought destruction among German field batteries and in the German trenches, and in the Dardanelles the Franco - British fleet has already silenced very many guns, destroyed forts, and forced its way into the throat of the Strait. On the Belgian coast not a ship has been lost, and though three battleships have gone down in the Dardanelles they were not sunk by gunfire, hut by drifting mines against which it Is possible to devise a protection. It is by no means impossible, therefore, that the Allied fleet will succeed in this great enterprise, hut success can only be achieved at a price. The London Times likens the operations to a game of draughts and adds that many pieces may disappear from the board before the game is won. The Allies, however, are "'prepared for losses. With a full knowledge that the cost may be-heavy they are determined to win through to Constantinople, and France, whose Navy has not had much opportunity for active fighting, is pledging herself with enthusiasm to the task. The fleet, it appears, is already assisted by troops on land. We do not know the strength of the force that has been landed or where it is operating, but the probability Is that a very strong force on the Gallipoli peninsula, or perhaps in Asia Minor, will co-operate with the fleet in its final attack. Such an undertaking as that in which the fleet is engaged calls for the co-opera-tion of a land force. Success in the enterprise is of immense importance to the Allies. The opening of the Black Sea would release great wheat supplies that Britain and France both need. The fall of Constantinople would destroy the value of Turkey to Germany as an ally and reduce the expedition against Egypt to futility. The Allies success would influence the decision of neutral Powers which are still doubtful whether the German army which they have been taught to regard as invincible can be beaten, while whatever power Germany has among Mohammedan peoples would be 1 finally destroyed. For all these reasons great risks are justified and suc- ) cess is worth paying for. It is a splcn- ! did thing to know that the fleet is led ! and manned by men who delight in just such perilous tasks, and who will go under the guns of the Turkish forts with a light-hearted courage equalled only by the gallantry of their brothers in the Flanders trenches. And, Jet it he said, the French sailors appear to be made of very much the same stuff. If any fleet in the world can force the passage of the Dardanelles that which is now commanded by Vice-Admiral do Robeck will succeed.