GENERAL SMUTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1917, Page 7

GENERAL SMUTS.

'PATIENCE NEEDED TO WIN THE GREATEST STAKE. <The London correspondent of the Paris Journal has had an interview with ,'General Smuts, a member of the War Cabinet, who, in reply to a question as to "how the military situation really stands," expressed himself as follows: What you describe as the standstill of to-day is the result of [yesterday's funda. mental mistake, which consisted in believing that the only important thing was the raising of men. This war is above all a war of material; we discovered this rather tote. Fortunately . the harm has beffn made good, and we now have the superiority. That is tli'e reason why we were so slow in going iorward. If we are progressing less rapidly than some would like, that is because thk development of war-machines favors the defensive and makes swift victories almost impossible, as is proved by the exafnple of Verdun, where the French, although with their backs to the wall, resisted countless assaults. The tactics which we have adopted in France have not Ween ahowy, but their results are certain. TWp have consisted of gradual and limited advances in the zones which have been rendered un- a tenable by the superiority of j onr Vrtil- I lery concentration. These have cost u?. I very little in men, but they have invol- * ved a maximum of loss to the enemy, and it is certain that we shall persist in them without pause or respite. GERMAN LONGING FOR PEACE. The military aspect of the situation ( js satisfactory. To-day we nave conquered; the victory is ours. The Ger- I /nans understand that perfectly; they are able to foresee the final result of our persistent military pressure. Can one doubt the growing feelings of terror which possess her as she sees the nations range Jieijiselves side by side against her, the financial markets closed to her, the food problem becoming each day more and more aeuto, her economic future hopelessly compromised, and her name more and more detested? She ts faced with the prospect of being strangled to death unless the Entente. Powers again open the doors of the world to her. There is nothing that Germany longs for moro ardently than peace; all her people feel that their position is desperate. "But," added added General Smuts, "before thinking of peace wo must be certain of/6aving finished with military Imperialism. The stake is the greatest that the human race has ever played for; patience and confidence are all that we now need in order to be certain ol winning it."