The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1916. THE OUTLOOK

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13272, 30 August 1916, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1916. THE OUTLOOK

The entry of Roumania into the war and Italy making common cause with her allies against Germany, are gratifying developments, and must materially hasten thrs end. Events should move rapidly uuring the next few weeks, and it is not impossible that ere autumn merges into winter the Central Powers will be forced to submit. The tone of the cables for the last month or two indicates that Germany and her allies have passed the zenith of their strength. They have been unable to nißke progress anywhere; therefore they cannot contemplate without loieboduig the advent of a fresh foe, especially in view of the fact that AustroTJungary cannot withstand the Italians

; ■ (I Russians and is unable to com--1 ..nd aid from those to whom she is < und, but who.se plight is aim J3t as unpromising as her own. With rioumnnia attacking :d another po u, the nlisation of Austria must bo rapid and complete, and realising her impotence, she may be expected to speed;-/ sue for peace. Should she do so, it is no! probable that she would sue in vain, for though she was the nominal

instigator of the war, it is generally admitted that she was but the catspaw of Germany. Austria, Russia and Serbia, left to themselves, would have satisfactorily settled their differences* at the end of July, 1914; but this did not suit Germany, who had pre-deter-mined war and cut the Gordian knot by a formal declaration against Russia just wlien the other Powers had agreed. upon a basis of settlement. Thus the great conflagration was startetl, which has deluged Christendom in blood and .suffering for upwards of two years, and which must continue until the regime which has made the awful carnage pos-

chical foundation is "overthrown, even if it does mean the destruction of Germany, to quote ruthless Count Reventlow, who professes to regard with horror the downfall of Kaiserdom and .all that it represents. If Austria gets a separate peace, she will have to pay a heavy price for it, but we do not think it will be peremptorily refused. With Austria eliminated, the position of Bulgaria and Turkey would be perilous in the extreme. Cut off from communication with Germany and left to themselves, they would be unable to continue the hopeless struggle; assailed from all sides they could not endure, and would have no alternative but unconditional surrender. The war has reached that stage when it must soon dawn upon Germany's allies that the longer they continue the struggle the worse their prospects will become, and that their best policy is to save all possible from the wreckage. When they realise the truth, they may be relied upon to decide to leave the author of their national disasters to face the foe alone. Greece is in a pitiable condition. Betrayed by her rulers, she is in a fair way to lose everything. The King and his court refused to allow the country to fulfil its honourable obligations, and to-day the country is overrun by a hated invader and is making no official effort at resistance; while those brave soldiers who for love of country put up a glorious fight, equal to that of the Spartans at Thermopylae, which has come down the ages as one of the grandest expositions of bravery in history, have been cashiered and dismissed the army by the King whose Honour they strove to maintain. The Greeks have no option if they wish to save their country but to join issue with the Bulgarian invaders as the Entente Powers have clearly intimated to them. The Allies are pledged to restore Serbia. This they will do, and the events of the last -48 hours have brought that consummation appreciably nearer. Serbia is held in honour and veneration; Greece is an outcast among the nations. Held in contempt by both sides, she does not possess a single friend. Having lost honour she has lost everything, and King Constantino will go down into history as one of the most contemptible rulers who ever sat in a seat of power. If the Entente Powers are disposed to show any consideration to Germany's dupes, Germany herself may expect no mercy. Her crime is too deep, too heinous; it must be expiated, and she must be rendered impotent for evil for generations to come. Evidence is already to hand which indicates that she has not begun the lesson which she has to learn, and her dreams of world domination have not yet been renounced. Already she is training an army for future wars. Boys of six years are learning the rudiments id' militarism, and a system of training is being perfected whereby every German lad at the age of 18 will pass into the army as a perfectly trained man. The significance of this movement is emphasised by the following incitement by the Imperial Government of Germany to hatred of other nations which has been published at Frankfort-on-Gder: "Recently there have become manifest certain tendencies among teaching staffs and pupil* towards counteracting the propagation and development of the idea of hatred against other nations, with a view to bringing about in the future the reconciliation of the civilised peoples. This is being conducted evidently with the educational purpose of implanting corresponding ideas in the minds of our youth. Under no circumstances can these tendencies be tolerated in the schools; tendencies which have their sources in the sentiment of general brotherhood and dreams of international peace. On the contrary, should such ideas become manifest, it will be the most important duty of the school to take care that the terrible lessons and experiences of the recent past and the present shall be imprinted on the memories of the growing generations so deeply that no lapse of time shall eradicate them." If there is any warning x for us in the foregoing, it is surely that having put our hands to the plough we must plough the furrow to the end. To refrain from doing so would but mean enhanced sorrow for the world in the not distant future.