The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1916. PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

Southland Times, Issue 17791, 21 July 1916, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1916. PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

The moment is opportune to again impress on readers the fact that hopes of a speedy disintegration of the enemy’s power to resist the combined offensives of the Allies are likely to be disappointed. These are based largely on the glowing and optimistic information received from unofficial sources, and on the unwarranted deductions drawn therefrom by a section of the Press. There is nothing in the official reports, in the little reliable information available as to Germany’s internal condition, or in the military situation to justify the conclusion that the final and complete collapse of the enemy is an event that may be expected in the near future, and attempts to inspire confidence in t an early termination of hostilities are mischievous. They are also dangerous as they tend to a cessation of effort and a slackening of the grim resolve to see the war through, no matter how long it may take and what further sacrifices it may involve. The war has proved beyond a shadow- of doubt that the Germans are capable of desperate and stubborn resistance, and we know also that their opposition to our progress will be assisted by perfect organisation, a perfect system of defence works, and all the aids that ingenuity can suggest and science make perfect. The belief that an overwhelming victory may He suddenly achieved is based on the argument that the Allies, once they succeed in making a breach in the enemy's line, will pour through masses of men, turn the enemy's fianks, cut his communications, am: gain so great a success that his army will be shattered. This is a comforting conclusion to arrive at, h|ut it cannot be regarded as more than remotely possible. Up to the present the enemy has not yet found it necessary to adopt purely defensive measures. Our attacks are still met by counterattacks. When the Germans are convinced that they are opposed by such strength that they have no option hut to act on the defensive, the task Qf tlte Allies will be but begun. The enemy will have to be beaten back from one line of trenches to another,;

and from one line of defence to another. All the way back from the present fronts to Berlin there are complete lines of defence, each consisting of three lines of trenches. The separate defence lines may be anything up to fifteen miles apart, according to the nature of the country, and when a retirement from one l:ne or defence becomes necessary the enemy moves back to the next, shortening his line, concentrating his forces, and maintaining his power of resistance. Acting solely on the* defensive the enemy reduces his casualties, while the attackers cannot save their men, and the fact that the British on the first day of the present offensive lost 1500 officers, and on another day last week lost 4000 men in one attack while they have been spending ammunition with the utmost prodigality, shows the sanguinary and difficult nature of the task ahead of the Allies. Some uuforseen circumstance, or some great blunder, may hasten the enemy's overthrow, but it is unwise to take it into calculation, and surely improper to encourage belief in its likelihood. The progress that is being made on all fronts at present is encouraging, and justifies a belief that the turning point has been reached. Disaster threatens the Austrians, with consequent fatal results to Bulgaria and Turkey, the Italians appear to have the upper hand again, and the Anglo-French are masters on the west, but the enemy is a long way from being beaten, and is certainly very far from being utterly shattered, the only condition that will ensure the peace terms that will mean a satisfactory ending to the war. The horizon has never been so bright for the Allies, and there was never less occasioi? for pessimism, but there is still need for the nation’s utmost exertion and for the conservation of the spirit that has brought us through the hour of danger, and that if -kept aflame will lead to the realisation o£ the hopes of the Allies.