STRENGTH OF CENTRAL POWERS WANES

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 944, 19 February 1917, Page 11

STRENGTH OF CENTRAL POWERS WANES

FORCED TO EMPLOY INFERIOR TROOPS. TO STIFFEN AUSTEIANS AND BULGARS. FRIGHTFULNESS A CONFESSION OF FAILURE. By Cahle. — Press Association. — Copyright. Australian and N Z. Cable Association. (Received February 19, 1.15 p.m.) WASHINGTON, February 18. A high British military authority, with the approval of the War Office, lias prepared a statement for the "New York Times" regarding the military position on the eve of the opening of the 1917 campaign. He reviews the Germans' repeated failures to break the Allies' lines, and adds:—"Tin 1 ruthless submarine threat is a confession of Germany's failure. The growing military strength of the Allies faces the declining strength of the Central Powers. "For two years the Germans have steadily dropped behind in material resources, despite the gross illegality of their employment of thousands of war prisoners and deported civilians as munitions producers. "The co-ordinated pressure of the Allies on all fronts has forced Germany and Austria to draw upon inferior material. Germany is feeling severely the strain of bolstering up her steadily weakening allies, such as the Austrian Army on the Russian front, and the Bulgarian Army on the Macedonian front, which would collapse but for Germany's stiffening. "The date of the end of the war cannot be fixed, but we will inevitably extinguish the Central Powers" menace to the world's peace."