THE OUTLOOK.

Southland Times, Issue 17484, 27 July 1915, Page 4

THE OUTLOOK.

The London Observer’s statement that six months hence the number of men under arms in Britain will be nearer foyr millions than three, naturally suggests' the questions;— What is Britain doing with her vast new armies? Why is there not some evidence of their presence at the front? These are questions tjiat everybody has been asking, more especially since the Russians began to feel the pressure of von Hindenburg’s mighty effort to recover Galicia. It is a characteristic of the Briton when his country is at war to rise up at short intervals and demand to know what the army is doing and what the navy is doing. Well, it has to be admitted quite frankly that the reasons why Britain’s millions have not been crowded into the firing line has not been explained by the only people who are in a position to give the explanation, and it is rather idle for other people to attempt to guess at the explanations. Two things are quite certain, however. One is that no one is more anxious to launch the great advance which is to thrust the Germans out of France and Belgium than the French and British military' commanders, and the next is that if the general offensive is not undertaken now there are adequate reasons why it should be delayed. It is useless in Britain’s present position to cry out for some one's blood because Britain was unprepared for war. The fact is undeniable and not irremediable, and it is better to concentrate the nation's energies upon removing the handicap than to wrangle about it. That is Britain's attitude to-day. The voice of the babbling optimist, who used to demonstrate twice a week how tbs Germans would be defeated within six months, is stilled, and the nation realises that it is locked in a life and death struggle with the most formidable enemy it has ever encountered. That is what Mr Lloyd George has been telling the people since he became Minister of Munitions; it is what Lord Kitchener told his audience at the Guildhall a few weeks ago. National optimism has ceased to be inane and has become intelligent. People are getting to work, and, despite such mortifying incidents as the South Wales strike, and the disinclination of the Clyde workers to give up holidays, the national machine is moving. But the Germans had a start of forty' years, and only by a prodigious effort van Britain, even with the unlimited wealth and resources at her disposal, establish a superiority in mcr; and munitions within two years. The effort is being made and the end will be achiet ed, but meantime the people must wait patiently' for the evidence of what is being accomplished. It will come in time. In accordance with one of the elementary rules of strategy General Joffre and Sir John French will not commit their armies to an offensive until they are certain that they can cany the operation to ‘complete success. They will not move until they are ready, but they will not delay an instant after they are ready. The only rational policy for the nation in this war is to put the fullest confidence in the men at the head of affairs.