October 30, 1915. 
LAND AND WATER< 
article is being written at this particular moment I 
fihould say that it was because the German General 
Staff is much more anxious now than at any time 
in the past to spreaa false reports as to their 
remaining reserve of strength. They, too, per- 
ceive that the weakness of the censorship in this 
country has allowed disaffection and discontent to 
grow. They readily believe that such things make 
for the breakdown of civilian moral and for the 
acceptation of an enemy's terms. If the Germans 
can get the mass not only of neutral nations but of 
civilian opinion among the belligerents or in any 
one of the important belligerent countries (for the 
censorship does not allow this sort of thing else- 
where among the Allies, but only here) to accept 
such statements as these, then he will have got the 
best terms he can hope to get in what has become 
for him a fight for existence. 
I should be taking up too much space and 
delaying the reader's attention too long were I 
to dwell further upon this particular article, but 
I repeat, I put it before my readers, not only 
because it concerns Land and Water, and deals 
with me by nt^.me and with my estimates of the 
enemy's strength and losses, but also because it 
seems to me typical of the way the enemy is now 
going to work on the political side. And I remark 
with some astonishment that even now in the crisis 
of his fate the German cannot work more subtly. 
He still mixes up accurate statements — painfully 
and needlessly accurate, minute statements — with 
rubbish which would not deceive a child. 
Thus the other day we read that Von Kluck 
told an American (or at any rate the American 
told the world that Von Kluck had told him, and 
the American writing under German inspiration 
said) that the German losses during the great 
offensive in the West were about 40,000 men. JIj is 
is from one-third to a fifth of the truth. 
Perhaps as the war goes on the enemy will 
learn subtlety from the older civilisation of his 
Western opponents, but as yet he shows no sign of 
it. He still talks of the London docks having been 
blown up by Zeppelins, of riotous London mobs de- 
nouncing the price of food on account of his 
submarine blockade, of the exhaustion of French 
numbers, of an approaching march upon Egypt 
and India, and of holding up five or six army 
corps with " a single division." Wlien he says 
THE KING TO HIS PEOPLE. 
TO MY. PEOPLE. 
Buckingham Palace. 
At this grave moment in the struggle between 
my people and a highly organised enemy who has 
transgressed the Laws of Nations and changed 
the ordinance that binds civilised Europe together, 
I appeal to you. 
I rejoice in my Empire's effort, and I feel 
pride in the voluntary response from my Subjects 
all over the world who have sacrificed home, 
fortune, and life itself, in order that another may 
not inherit the free Empire which their ancestors 
and mine have built. 
I ask yoii to make good these sacrifices. 
The end is not in sight. More 7nen and yet 
more are wanted to keep my Armies in the Field, 
and through them to secure Victory and enduring 
Peace. 
In ancient days the darkest moment his ever 
^produced in men of our race the sternest resolve. 
I ask you, men of all classes, to come forward 
voluntarily and take your share in the fight. 
In freely responding to my appeal, you will be 
giving your support to our brothers, who, for long 
months, have nobly upheld Britain's past 
traditions, and the glory of her A rms. 
GEORGE R.I. 
this kind of thing about matters that everyone 
can judge for themselves, as for instance, \vhen 
he talks nonsense about the effect of the Zeppelin 
attack upon London, or of the submarines upon 
our trade, his folly is seen by all. Let me assure 
my readers that his follies are no less when he is 
talking of things more technical — of effectives and 
wastage. It is just the same pudding of academic 
accuracy and silly lie. 
H. BELLOC. 
MR. HILAIRE BELLOG'S WAR LECTURCS. 
Wolverhampton : The Picturedrome, Wednesday, 8 p.m., Nov. 17, 
illustrated. Walsall : New Town Hall, Thursday, 8 p.m., Nov. 18^ 
illustrated. Chester : Music Hall, Friday. 3 p.m., Nov. 19, not illus- 
trated. Liverpool : Philharmonic Hall, Friday, Nov. 19. 8 p.m., illus- 
trat^'d. Edinburgh : Usher Hall, Saturday, 8 p.m., Nov. 20, illustrated. 
Glasgow : St. Andrew's Hall, Monday, 8 p.m., Nov. 22, illustrated. 
AMPHIBIOUS WAR. 
By A, H. POLLEN. 
In accordance with the reqnirementi of the Press Bureau, which does not object to the publication at censored, and takes do 
responsibility for the correctness of the statements. 
THE DOME NESS LANDING. 
WITH the enemy's main fleet either 
unable or unwilling to seek an 
engagement on the grand scale, it 
became inevitable that the naval 
interest of the war would centre on amphibious 
operations, and the attack and defence of trade 
and communications, and of these last two there 
have been exceedingly interesting developments 
during the past week. Quite the most sensational 
has been the landing of the Russians at Dome 
Ness, the most northerly point of land on the 
south-western side of the Gulf of Riga. The 
facts have only been meagrely communicated. All 
one knows is that the Russian force landed, drove 
back the Germans, entrenched where they could 
command the sea approaches, and, after holding 
their ground for a couple of days, re-embarked. 
The event was quite rightly received as a startling 
piece of news, but, oddly enough, for very obviously 
the wrong reason. It seems to have been supposed 
that the objective of this landing was to turn the 
German line and open up a flank attack on the 
forces attacking Riga from the west. What the 
objective was has not officially been set out, but 
there can be little doubt that it was nothiuj^ of 
this sort. Dome Ness — the name sounds oddly as 
11 
