The Sun SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1915. HOW THE WAR GOES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 562, 27 November 1915, Page 8

The Sun SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1915. HOW THE WAR GOES.

The great European campaign, now on the edge of its second winter, moves but slowly—at least, the cables have that inference. The light for Gorizia, and the Austro-German drive across Serbia, arc exceptions. Since the September thrust in Northeast France, and the resultant fierce counter attacks, the combatants in the Western theatre have occupied their time mainly with cannonade exchanges. On the Eastern front, 'the contending armies are at a deadlock, but the heroic recovery and defence of the Russians have so far kept the important Riga-Dvinsk line inviolate. In the Near East the military advantages are still easily with 1 the enemy, primarily because of their overwhelming superiority in men and guns, but the diplomatic victory of the Grand Alliance (thanks to Lord Kitchener and the fleet) over King Constantine, and the indications that the Allies are preparing for a long stay in the Balkans, presage a change of fortune in this quarter, particularly if, as reported—rumoured is perhaps the fitter term — Russia and Italy are able and willing to lend the stricken Serbians substantial assistance. The full significance and general effect of the German diversion into the Balkans is yet to be seen; but, apart from this theatre, the advantages of the general situation at present incline to-j wards the Allies. If Russia canl hold her own during the winter and effect a thorough rehabilitation of her forces in preparation . for a spring offensive, von Hindenburg will experience considerable difficulty in holding his own. On the Eastern Italian front General Cadorna's siege guns arc dropping shells into Gorizia, and unless we have been grossly misled by the official communiques, the fall of that stoutly fortified city is imminent. If the Austrians lose Gorizia, they should not be able to hold Trieste for long, and the capture of these places will seriously endanger the whole of the defence in this region, and pave the way to a blow at Austria's south-western gates."' It is not unlikely that Joffre will take another "bite" at the German front before the w ; inter descends in earnest, but recent, reports indicate that the weather has been too unpleasant to allow of anything in the nature of a frontal attack. Berlin will be particularly interested in the optimistic statement, of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,'Mr 'McKenna. The Chancellor expresses himself very confidently as to the financial superiority of Britain. The enemy will no doubt differ sharply with Mr McKenna on his assertion that long before British; money runs short the supply of German soldiers will be exhausted, but there can be no doubt as to the capacity of Britain to endure longer than her chief foe, and the war is a war of endurance. Still, it would not be altogether wise to build exhopes on the theory that the enemy will soon be running short of men. Such a conclusion can only be the result of conjecture, for it is not possible for anyone outside the German General Staff to know even the approximate figures. But this can be alfirined most stoutly, that in the long run Britain, Greater Britain, and Russia, will outlast the Germanic Powers in the supply both of men and material. We may ultimately be forced to use compulsion to obtain the men needed, but they are there to be got.

By one means and another the impression has been created in the minds of a large majority of people that the nervous strain of war is responsible for adding largely to the inmates of asylums for the mentally afflicted. A recent numb.er of that authoritative medical journal, the "Lancet," gives an interesting psychological analysis of the effect of war on the nation's nerves. The "Lancet" states that so far from there being a great increase of insanity owing to nervous strain of war, any evidence points in a contrary direction. The case of a large asylum at Belfast, where there has been a remarkable decrease in the number of admissions for the past year as compared with the previous 12 months, is cited as an illustration. The only reason that can be discovered for this decline in insanity is the war. The psychological explanation advanced is that war, though dreadful and racking, and to sensitive minds a horrible nightmare, does, nevertheless, take people out of themselves. "It is not the great tragedies of life that sap the forces of the brain," comments the "Lancet," "but rather the monotony of narrow and circumscribed existence." Accepting this unusual and interesting theory as correct, a commentator arrives at the conclusion that to live out a great public tragedy is therefore not enfeebling to weak minds, but strengthening. Surely the "Lancet's" proposition, which is convincing enough for the layman, must be considered as one of the minor surprises -of the great war, and a bombshell for the unpractised sensational theorists.