The Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1916. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11731, 22 June 1916, Page 4

The Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1916. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGJN, The campaign in German East Africa is oversluvdowed by the vast scale of - the combat in other spheres, neverthe- ' ■ less when its full history comes to bo written it will take its place in the records of tho greatest of wars as an undertaking of the most difficult character, carried out with uncommon skill and perseverance. Recent cablegrams described the density of the forest which is the chief obstacle to military progress.in East Africa, and it may readily - be imagined by those who know something of the history of previous campaigns in such country that all the natural conditions are in favour of our ■ enemies. Tho huge extent of the territory which General Smuts must sub-jugate-before Africa is free from the tnemy must also be taken into account when the reader is tempted to remark upon the long-continued resistance of the Germans and their native levies. German East Africa is more "than three times v the size of Great Britain and Ireland. Much of it is mountainous, rising from tropical jungles into snowcapped peaks. Great areas are covered with heavy timber like our own New Zealand forests, with an even more intricate and tenacious network of underjErowth, and there are large districts covered' with thorn bush, in which irater is scarce and where tracks havo to be cut, for roads there are none. In other parts grass grows to such a height as completely to cover the movements of troops. It is pre-eminently a land for ambuscades and surprise attacks, and in such warfare the odds are in favour of the defenders of the country. To the thick and hampering vegetation, the unbridged rivers, the large swamps which necessitate long detours from the direct line of march, there must bo added tho insect pests, suchas the tsetse fly, and the irahealthmess of the climate in the lower-lying districts. The natural difficulties, it is obvious, must retard an invading force to, a far greater degree than in such a zone of operations as, for example, • the South African veldt- The gallant ! •' Forces "under General Smuts are finding the conquest of East Africa a much more prolonged affair than the South- - "Wesfc campaign. It is evjdent, however, from the brief despatches cabled that most substantial progress has been made and that verv considerable area of the enemy country is now firmly in our hands. The Kilimanjaro district, the centre of the healthiest and most promising section for settlement and . development, is now occupied by the -British forces, and every week sees a " "slow but certain addition to the terri- - tory seized from the enemy. The nar-rowing-in necessarily is a deliberate process, devoid of any dash, but it is the surer for that, and the whole enemy country from the Indian Ocean to Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika and to Victoria Nyanza on the north-west must fall to British arms. The latest estimate of the enemy Forces in .East Africa, as given by Geusral Smuts in his despatches, sets the number at 10,001) men, of whom 2000 are Germans. This force, it is believed, is equipped with sixty field guns and eighty machine guns.. It is evident that the enemy strength has been considerably reduced since the campaign opened, for at that timo the Germans numbered 4UCO, with a following of about 25,000 natives. The capture of important positions and surrenders of native soldiers have been frequent during tho last three or four months, and the enemy has lost a considerable number of quick-firers and machine guns. Tho British command of the railways is an advantage which will facilitate tho separation and rounding-up of the Ger-man-native troops, and the command also of the great lakes N'yassa and Tanganyika, held originally from the western side only, and of the great inland sea, Victoria Nyanza, will placo the enemy between strong and irresistible forces. Since Portugal entered the war on our side the possibility of a sanctuary in neutral territory for —e foe has been destroyed. The Belgians, on their side, the west, are vigorously - Co-operating with the British. On all sides the Germans and their more or l&ss Willing native Soldiers are hemmed in. But their r6unding-up, though certain in the end, is a task that will take a considerable time yet. budget points. It probably came as a surprise to many people, to, find the representatives of country constituencies support-

ing the proposal for a tax on exports. One or two men whoso opinion must carry weight have endorsed this idea, but to many people it savours too much of class legislation. A tax on exports would hit. tho producer and exporter, while tho firm whoso business is conducted entirely within tho Dominion but which has benefitted enormously by the increase in local prices—duo to many causes, such as tho lack of shipping, high freights and so on—would escape. The excess profits tax will bring all into tho Treasury net, and that is what tho country wants. Despite tho protests of tho member for Ashburton and others, there is a general opinion that u&r prices havo benefitted tho farmer to a very largo extent, but war conditions havo benefitted many business houses too, and it is no unusual thing to hoar or firms making big profits out of stocks bought before tho war and even out of very old stock that has found a ready market owing to the sudden stoppage of importation of later and improved arl- - Tho excess profits obtained in this -way will now, in part, find their way into tho State Treasury. Further information regarding excess profits vrill doubtless be supplied later on. There must be no exceptions. Many solicitors havo enlisted, and the firms that remain obtain a portion of their business; doctors benefit similarly, and they must pay. In Britain several nowspapers havo urged the Government to impose a higher tax on shipping. " Tho shipping trade," the Daily Chronicle " remarks, " occupies a unique position. It carries no stocks or materials," but it has Earned rates of freight hitherto unknown. In the Old Country the professions and one or two lines of business managed to obtain exemptions, but caro must be taken to prevent such a thing here. Tho excess profit tax proposed by Sir Joseph Ward should yield considerably more than £2,000,000, the estimate made by the Minister of Finance, and tho result should bo a fair percentage of our war expendituro met out ol revenue; a development in the very best interests of tho country. In his speech last night the Minister of Finance touched on the qustion oi importation of motor-cars from America, and wo must admit that we cannot follow his line of argument. That the motor-car is a business necessity nowadays most people will admitj but, as tho member for Patea- said, farmers and others are buying these cars for j pleasure purposes; possibly for 'every car sold for business purposes two are sold to peoplo who rOally do not need them but fed that they would like to have a car. Every car purchased from foreign countries at tho present time adds to the balance of trade against Britain. America buys our wool, but- j ,/er and meat, as Sir Joseph Ward has j said, but not for any friendly or philanthropic reason, bhe needs tho goods and buys them, and tho more we can sell her of our surplus products the better for Britain; it helps to keep steady the rato of exchange. Every car purchased from America is repr * sented by a draft on or through London, and that represents the wrong order of affairs. And this is lio small item. In IPI3 the value of motor-cars, motor-cycles and material for their construction imported was £1,021.613, and in 1914 it wa5.£1,158.143. In both these years imports from Britain swelled the total, but to-day tho amount spent on foreign-niado cars represents a good round sum, a;nd the transactions add to tho American. balance of trade against tho Empire—a balance already very, very large. COST OF LIVING. The Board* of Trade, which is now in Taranajci, engaged in the collection of information regarding the increase in the prices of "wheat, flour and bread in order to complete its report to the Government, appears already to have submitted an interim report on its work. Of the details of this report the people | of Now Zealand havo heard nothing. In well informed circles in Wellington, it is believed that in its interim report, made more or less drastic recommendations regarding tho prices of certain necesssaries of life. Whatever the trend of these recommendations, no action has been ta.ken by the Ministry to givo effect to them, and the report, temporarily, at any rate, has been withheld. Tho attitude of tho Government on the cost of living question i-3 hard to understand. There was extraordinary <3elay in the appointment of the BoarS of Trade; the Primo Minister seemed extremely unwilling to set up such an investigating body in the first place, and now that the is at work and is apparently .making a conscientious effort to deal with the problem, its recommendations are kept a dead secret. It is necessary that tho public should be made fully acquainted with the report and the suggestions of the board at the earliest opportunity. In tho absence of such information, it is impossible to place on the proper shoulders the responsibility for the Administration's failure to deal with the matter. It is possible that the Board of Trade is incurring a measure of popular blame which rightly should' bo laid on tho Government.