The Way of the War.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12325, 23 May 1918, Page 4

The Way of the War.

THE POSITION ANALYSED. The stories of starvation and desperation that. Mr Delator has gathered from Austrian sources am unite in keeping with reports that have boon current since the hoginning of the. year. There is always a doubt as to the authenticity of the reports, and it has to bo remembered Unit a low cases of starvation may provide the basis for a sensationally sweeping description of Austrian conditions. Tb 0 shortage of food has been extremely acute in various Austrian and Hungarian cities from time to time, hut when the conditions become desperate the authorities are compelled to take action, and supplies are collected and forwarded. 'Phis was the, case with Trieste quite recently. Ono could, of course, turn back a few months and quote sensational stories that came from Austria at the beginning of the winter, -but'their value is doubtful. Broadly, the evidence shows that the condition of the poorer classes, particularly in Austria, is extremely had, hut that food is obtainable in sufficient quantities by those who can afford to pay for it. As for the incidents reported to have occurred in Vienna, ono may recall a recent message from Milan, according to which two Italian nurses who had been i>ermitted to leave the Austrian capital declared the conditions of life in Vienna to he almost insupportable. They said that deaths from exhaustion frequently occurred in the. streets. One of their stories was that 2000 burials took place every day in the principal cemeteries —and Vienna is a city of roughly two million inhabitants.

The Emperor Karl has lately gone down to the Bosphorus to recuperate, a fact that does not lend colour to the reports of grave internal disorders in his Empire. Nothing more has boon heard of the Jugo-Slav rebellion, lately reported to have broken out. The disturbances in Bohemia, however, have been mentioned in the Austrian newspapers, and the recent telegrams suggest that the Czechs are still agitating. One of the terms of the latest agreement between Germany and Austria, however, is said to bo that Germany shall provide a certain additional quantity of foodstuffs, a considerable proportion of the new supply to be given to Bohemia. Evidently the scarcity of food Ims been one of the principal troubles of Bohemia. However, the national spirit of the Czechs is very active. It is mentioned in a cable message to-day that repressive measures aro being adopted in Prague in connection with a big ' demonstration held there recently. A week or two ago there was a similar demonstration in favour of the establishment of a Czechoslovak State, and the Austrian Government promptly announced that the promoters would be. prosecuted. Thereupon tho Czechs issued a declaration welcoming tho prosecution, and declaring their solidarity, and a hundred thousand of them signed tho document in n few days.

One reason for these political movements, no doubt, is tho fact that before the Emperor left for his holiday in Turkey he closed the Reichsvath. The attempt to give Austria even a modilioti form of true govcrnir.cnt failed, rather badly, as it was hound to fail, because it was impossible to find a Government that could he wholly acceptable to tho Crown and at the same time responsible to tho Parliament. Attei many efforts to find a ministerial combination capable of satisfying the Tleichsrath, the Emperor' gave the problem up. and tho Reichsrath was adjourned indefinitelyThe official “Journal,'’ according to a Heater message, explains that this action is due to the inability of Parliament to find the stable policy which is necessary in the decisive phase of the war. “The resumption W tho Reichsvath would only sharpen political antagonisms and endanger the fulfilment of the economic task before the nation, especially the solution or the question of the supply or food to enable Austria to hold out. Vpon that everything depends. ' The French attach east and northeast o! I.acre the other day seems its have been n very successful effort. As a matter ol fact ilie Germans have been comparatively quiet on this seetor all tho mouth. After the capture of Kemmcl Hill they organised a big new attack, aiming at .Mom Rouge and Schcrpenbarg. They assaulted on a fiont of twelve or thirteen miles, sending the infantry forward in masses, and at tho end of th 0 day they had been heavily defeated. That was on April 2h. On Alay 8 they undertook a small attack immediately south of Ypres and gained a footing in the British trenches' in the centre, but next morning a counter-attack completely re-established tho line. 8y far as the French arc concerned tho enemy has been content with his repulse, and the activity on the Locre front has been due almost wholly to th o .initiative of the Allies. Reports appearing in the Australian newspapers suggest, indeed, that the enemy was very badly shaken, and tho intensity of tho Allied artillery lire produced something like a temporary demoralisation behind the German lines. Air Perry Robinson mentions that after tho battle of April 29 one German battalion mustered an officer and eight men, and of another two battalions there wore eighty nion left. Th ft French losses in that struggle were severe, but tho enemy’s wore staggering-