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Show oo GLOOMY PROSPECTS FOR THE ENGLI8H. These are the darkest days of the war for the English people. The British government is passing through a crisis so intense that the cabinet has beon reformed. Back of the cabinet cab-inet changes are disappointments over the ammunition supplies, the liquor question and enlistments. The German submarines are picking off British Bhips. including trawlers, and England's communications with the outside world are being made difficult. dif-ficult. Battleships are going down and ships at anchor are being blown up in a mysterious manner. Zeppelins Zeppe-lins are dropping bombs. On the Dardanelles the allies are meeting with greater resistance than had been expected, and the New Zealand. Australian Aus-tralian and territorials are suffering heavy losses. On the continent, British Brit-ish troops have paid a heavy toll in casualties, the death lists placing all of aristocratic England in moumincr. The English people generally are just beginning to realize the extent of the conflict and the nature of the sacrifices they are to be called on to make, before the war Is ended. One of the discouraging features of the war, from the side of the allies, is the inability of the Russians to resist re-sist the tremendous drives of tho combined German and Austrian forces The troops of the Czar are beine forced out of Galicta. after bavins been driven back from the entire German frontier to the north and out Df the Carpathians to the south. When Clalicla Is clear of the invaders and eastern Prussia is In no danger of an offensive movement by the Muscovites, Musco-vites, then the British will be called on to endure a greater strain than they have so far experienced, as the German army corps released from tho eastern front will be thrown against the lines at Ypres and the attacks at-tacks of last fall will seem tame in comparison. Then the British troops must number not 750.000, but 2.000 000 or more, and be prepared for fearful losses. A remarkable feature of the fighting fight-ing of the past month is that the 1 Germans should have been able to hold their lines on French and Belgian Bel-gian territory and at the same time throw 3,000,000 men against the Russians. Rus-sians. When the Russians are disposed dis-posed of in a manner to allow a comparatively com-paratively small body of entrenched Germans to block tho Cnssaeks. there will be a great shifting of soldiern from General Hindcnberg's command to Belgium and northern France, and then will come the supreme test of the war, and if the lines of the allies are broken at Ypres, allowing the Teutons to march on to Calais, or at Solssons, so that Paris can be invested, in-vested, then the war clouds that have cast shadows on English homes will multiply until the last ray of sunshine Is shut out But tho history of the English is that they never give up. Englishmen have strong hearts, and the nation will show to better advantage when the test is most severe. |
