The Sun TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1915. CLEARING THE WAY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 558, 23 November 1915, Page 6

The Sun TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1915. CLEARING THE WAY.

The Entente Powers are dcalinj with Greece. as they should hav< dealt with her weeks ago. The Alliec fleets have begun a peaceful block ade of Greek ports, .which mean: that the maritime trade of the coun try—a considerable matter since tin war began—is being held up in hom< harbours or prevented from re-enter ing those harbours. This will con vince Constantine that the Allies an not to be trifled with any longer It /must, not be supposed that thi: blockade is being used as a weapor to force Greece to abandon her neu trality in favour of the Allies. Suet a step would amount Jo an unjustifi able coercion inconsistent with th( ideals which have prompted the pro tection of Belgium and the resistance to Germany's hideous doctrines. The Entente's latest move is intended tc ensure the safety of the-Allied-troops now r in Macedonia, and the latest report which wc publish to-day indicates that Constantine has id lasl yielded to pressure, and given the unmistakable guarantee demanded oJ him in respect to the Franco-Britisli forces on the mainland. The report which is in the form of a special Sydney "Sun"-"Times" message states in addition that a basis of agreement has been reached as between the Allies and Greece. If this is so, it will end an anxious and ex* traordinary condition of affairs. So long as the Allies were content tc bargain with King Constantine, so long the latter insisted in playing fast and loose with the negotiators. But a demonstration of force has apparently brought this monarch to regard the position in a more reasonable light, and not before it was time. If our information is based on fact,? then Greece has atv last been forced to one way or tlie other; if not for the Allies, then assuredly not against them.\The danger possible from a Constantine poliicy of treachery being past, the Allies Will be free once more to concentrate on the two vital issues in the Near East—the wisdom "and practicability of a major military campaign in the Balkans, and the fate of the Dardanelles operations. A cablegram received this morning has a distinct bearing on these* questions. It records the passage of powerful German reinforcements to the Western theatre in order, it is assumed, to begin an offensive that will prevent the Allies detaching large bodies of soldiery for service in the Near East. The general opinion of the experts at Home is that it would be fatal for General Joffre to run any risk of a setback by weakening his line for Ihe purpose of strengthening the Allied forces in the Balkans. On the other hand, if the offensive is to be prosecuted with any spirit in the Near East theatre, the Allies will require at least another quarter of a million men. Lord Kitchener has yet to report as to the Gallipoli operations, but to a layman it would seem a doubtful policy to evacuate the bloodstained peninsula altogether, because of the effect the release of thousands of Turkish soldiers would have on the campaigns in the Caucasus and in Mesopotamia. While the Allies remain on Gallipoli j.t will be incumbent on the Porte to keep sufficient men there to render a surprise attack impossible. Again, should the Germans reach Conslani tinople in force, the Allies might be faced with a set of circumstances which would make their occupation untenable, principally because of the enemy's superior numbers. It will be strange indeed, and another illustration of Germany's amazing resources and organisation if she could compass such a widely divergent movement. All hope of saving Serbia appears to have vanished, but if the Allies can pour'sufficient troops into the Balkans to hold up the Aus-tro-German-Bulgarian drive when it attempts to move beyond Serbia, the new development will be well met. j Germany cannot afford to waste time' in the Balkans, and Bulgaria is not prepared for a protracted campaign. Time fights more effectively for the Allies than for Central Europe.