The Sun FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1914. HUMOURS OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 270, 18 December 1914, Page 6

The Sun FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1914. HUMOURS OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Onlookers at the party game will be amused at the spirit of sweet reasonableness that prevails amongst the. newspaper '' barrackers " of either side, according to the ebb or flow of* political fortune. When it appeared as if the Government had won by a snjall majority .the Liberal newspapers were all for peace and compromise, and glad to gather such crumbs oi: comfort as might fall from the victors' table. Now the, boot is on the other foot and-they are developing their customary truculence, while the official apologists for Reform are adopting a subdued tone, that is in strong contrast with their brave words of a few days ago. A good deal turns on the ultimate decision of Mr Tau Henare, who is so overpowered by advances of politicians who a week ago hardly knew of his existence that he has fled into the bush. The. picture of our only baronet entreating! this child of Nature to make his way ; into the Liberal fold, furnishes a situation that only ; the late W. S. Gilbert could do justice to." There is a splendid plot for a comic opera in the episode, and local librettists might very well get to w T ork on it. Pending the result of the recounts there is not mu.eh profit in speculating as. to'what is going to happen, although the situation admittedly is one of extreme interest. There seems to be absolute unanimity as to the undesirability of another election for at least a year, and if that is really so, it will probably be found that a member on one side or the other will willing to cross over. Judging by the happenings of three years ago, defections from the Liberal Party arte more probable than from the ranks of the Reformers. Several of Sir Joseph Ward's followers can talk *'independence'' on very small provocation, and shiftjtheir foot from the loud pedal to the soft whenever it suits them to do so. Now is the opportunity of their- lives.

Indubitably the dark side of the German naval raid on the Yorkshire coast is the ruthless destruction of life and property in undefended non-combatant towns. . i War is a terrible business at any time, but it has never been:so horrible as in the present -upheaval. Never ha's the lot of. the unarmed and inoffensive citizens been so full of nightmare. This policy of terrorism is a purely-Ger-man idea resolved on years ago, and made the military doctrine of professor and peasant, alike.. The Hague Convention to which Germany attached her signature is merely a '' scrap of paper' ' to the war lords of Europe. Once these international obligations interfered with her preconceived plans of aggression Germany simply disregarded them) and proceeded to act according.to her own. ideas'. She' has -deluged Europe with blood and '' draped the horizon with sorrow" in her enunciation of a desperate policy of force," and" it is of little use, the civilised world's standing

"aghast anil railing at such a monster. The most urgent need of the moment is for the civilised world to organise and meet force with force, and drop all this useless moralising about the Teuton's flagrant breaches of ■ international law. Hard words break no bones; —if they did Germany would have been broken ere this. The only thing that will bring her to reason is a powerful dose of her own medicine—force, and still more force. It is not improbable that the German raiders will be decorated with the iron cross for shelling helpless women and children out of ..existence, for, as has been noted, pig iron is plentiful. The fact that England lias been shocked by an attack on her own threshold will give the pessimistic citizens of the Fatherland a fillip—the fierce Teuton joy can be imagined. But the raitl will give England a lesson of which she was in need. It will make her alive to the vindictive and pitiless hatred with whieli Germany regards her great rival, it will open her eyes to the unnameable terrors which would conceivably follow on a German invasion, and the landing of German armies on English soil. If that realisation does not stimulate re: cruiting at Home, then there is nothing for it but a temporary scheme of conscription.

Petrograu grudgingly admits a Russian reverse between the Bzura and the Vistula Rivers. For the time being the

Russian advance has been arrested, while the Germans have recovered sufficiently to persist in their flanking operations in North Poland and the Carpathians. General Hindenberg, it is said, has something like a million men on the Polish frontier. These figures are probably an overstatement, but it is clear that the AustroGerman forces have been largely reinforced, and are again assuming the offensive. The Russian diversion through the Carpathians and on to the Hungarian plains has been rendered nugatory by the reverse in Central Poland. This raid —it was never anything more—across the mountains was made ostensibly with a view to relieving the pressure on the battered Servians, but if xt is true that General Hindenberg has planned a counterattack in Western Galicia, the Russian forces in this quarter should find' themselves in an unsatisfactory position, particularly if the enemy should succeed in dividing the Russians in front of Warsaw and complete his enveloping scheme. While the Germans can thus hold their opponents' front down in Poland, the Russian movement against Cracow must remain at a standstill. - Even if Hindenberg has the # million he is credited with leading, he should still find himself sensibly outnumbered, but this disadvantage is counterbalanced by the more shrewd German leadership. Enough on this point has been heard to satisfy most people who follow the war step by step that in the matter of both strategy and tactics the Germans have, of late, proved superior to the ' Russians . The one exception was when the rather foolish Crown Prince blundered on the Vistula, and had the mortification of seeing his crack corps cut up by a desperate Russian attacking force that forced a passage across the river in the face of tremendous puniFhment. The Crown Prince's mistake has since been' rectified by "old man" Hindenberg, with the result that the Russians are moving backward. It should not be long before they come again.

Colonel'' Sam'' Hughes, the Canadian Minister of War,'expresses the opinion that the Allies are not yet ready to take the offensive, and begin the German "drive" from Belgium. Colonel Hughes; who has done such excellent service to the Empire in general, says that Germany's preparations for war were more complete than even our militdfy experts were aware. It would be pertinent to ask Colonel Hughes how he came by this information, for the German General Staff is '.nJo't given -to advertising its plans or resources from the house tops. It really doesn't matter very much, and'the gallant Colonel can be forgiven if, as we suspect, he is merely endeavouring to brighten up the recruiting movement in -Canada. As for the first point—that the Allies are not yet prepared to take the offensive —the more recent telegrams suggest to the contrary: They indicate that General joffre has decided on a forward move at last. , The wedge is being steadily hammered through West Flanders, and what, information the War Office allows to' filter through is mostly a laconic repetition of stories of captured trenches. A message received to-day states that the British Forces have reached a point in their progression further inland than they have previously gained! Apparently the Germans have given up all hope, for the time being at any rate, of reaching Calais by means of the coastline. Their efforts to force a passage across the Nieuport-Dixmude line have been unavailing, and appallingly expensive in the matter of lives wasted. The Fleet has been a great factor in repulsing this movement, notwithstanding the official reports from German headquarters to the effect that their shore guns had outranged the enemy's naval batteries. Doubtless the Kaiser will manufacture a new excuse for once again changing his plans, and it would not be surprising if, in the event of the Allies postponing their offensive until after the winter breaks, a desperate attack -was notmade by way of Courtrai, to split-the* Allies, and isolate. the troops that are operating between the Lys ami; the coast. If the .Allied wedge succeeds, it will necessitate a general German retirement to the Meuse-Antwerp line, but there can be but slight hope of this while the Duke of Wurtemberg is strong enough to maintain the offensive on the Franco-Belgian frontier.