8 
LAND & WATER 
January i8, 1917 
an anxious desire to obtain a reprieve. Polish recruit- 
ment was getting more and more doubtful, and short uf 
Pohsh recruitment he had for drafts to rehcve his forces 
in action, right up to the middle of the next summer, 
numbers which were not equivalent to one-third of those 
forces in action. 
These first feelers for peace disappointed him. He then 
gambled upon the very doubtful experiment of anticipating 
reserves which might be absolutely necessary to his 
existence but a few months hence : he created the new 
divisions ; he sacriliced Monastir, and he staked every- 
thing upon the almost purely political experiment of the 
Roumanian campaign. He no longer had the strength 
to do the thing on any considerable scale. Of the forces at 
work not one half were German ; of the twelve moving 
divisions which Germany herself had just managed to 
j)rovide (out of thirty), all were severely tried ; two at least 
to our knowledge had to be withdrawn for re-formation. 
One, the nth iiavarian, was almost annihilated. Still, 
by this special concentration upon one small sector of his 
further extended fronts, the enemy achieved an 
advance across the whole of Wallachia. The pohtical 
effect which he had desired once more stood him in 
far better stead than it should have done. A nervous- 
ness exactly suiting the enemy's book spread throughout 
public opinion as a result of this Roumanian affair. The 
bpectacle of such nervousness reacted upon neutrals. 
Definite Peace Proposals 
Suddenly on Dec. 12th, the enemy openly proposed 
peace. He acted so clumsily that he missed fire even with 
those whom he had the best chance of entrapping, and he 
found himself about a month later certainly condemned 
to a continuation of the war. He knows what result 
that continuation will have. He cannot avoid it by 
any military action. He is therefore now about to con- 
centrate upon action almost purely political. 
What form this will take no one can say. He may 
solemnly erect in due form a free Polish State. He may 
gamble still further with his dwindling reserves and 
undertake a spectacular offensive even in the West, 
with the certainty of defeat if it be continued, but 
in the remaining hope that its delivery may even 
yet affect opinion. He may suggest a corresponding 
insufficient stroke against the treasures of Italy : 
an hypothesis demanding long preparation. He may, 
if he is guided by counsels even more foolish than 
those which led him to the blunders of last year, 
waste himself upon a diversion in Macedonia. 
But whatever he does now must necessarily ha\e 
for its object aja effect more entirely political than any 
movement he has yet undertaken. Strategic considera- 
tions in the large sense of that phrase form a less pro- 
portion of his plan than ever. 
If we consider the enemy's situation not only from 
that numerical standpoint which is at the bottom of 
argument and judgment in these matters, but also from 
the standpoint of quality and specific Use, the necessity 
he is now under of political effect will be still more clear. 
He cannot adopt a general defensive. 
Defensive Strategy 
In any case, a general defensive towards the end of a 
campaign is almost a contradiction in terms. The only 
])oint of any defensive in strategy as in tactics is to hang 
out until an offensive can be delivered. But supposing 
him merely concerned with the prolongation of action in 
time : supposing him merely saying to himself : "If I 
can draw it gut even by a month longer than would seem 
jKJSsible, something may tmn up in my favour during that 
month." ev'en then the policy of a mere defensive is 
forbidden him. 
It is forbidden him because he has deliberately sacrificed 
\vhat would have been such an ultimate defensive 
strength to hazardous and inconclusive offensive move- 
ments. He has reduced his defensive power to the last 
limits everywhere and has organised his surplus or margin 
i){ power to strike with, and has used it recklessly in the 
striking. Every such expenditure has been to the 
advantage of the Allies. Every occupation of territory 
which has not shortened a line or provided materials and 
men in excess of its cost, has advantaged the Allies, and 
none perhaps more than these last actions in Roumania, 
following upon the occupation of Bucharest. It is no 
Itinger possible for the enemy to change the texture either 
of his organisation or of his idea, either of his military 
dispositions or of his mental balance. He is no longer 
in a position to say " After such and such a date I will 
imdertakc no new offensive. I will spin out the defensi\e 
alone." It is too late for him to undertake even that 
policy of despair. He is condemned to a further offensive 
upon this sector or that until his line cracks. 
Intellectually it is our business to welcome each such 
renewed effort. Morally it is our business to forbid 
sensation and above all sensational fear during the 
progress of such efforts. H. Bhlloc 
The following extract from the Frankjiirlcr Zeilung gives 
a good idea of the military opinions still beirig promulgated 
in Germany : " We do not doubt that it will be possible for 
the Western Powers to begin a new gigantic battle in tlic 
West, and we also do not doubt that many of our enemies 
still belie\e that tiiis is capable of winning for the Entente 
the victory and the peace which it desires. But we are filled 
by the firm conviction that the solid facts which the war lias 
created in our favour are anchored so firmly in the bloody 
ground of the battlefields that no army in the world can dis- 
lodge them. What has been achieved is enough for a good 
peace, and a peace acceptable to the enemy also ; if they 
do not want it, we shall proceed to win for ourselves a still 
better peace." 
Afr. George Big\\ood's record Lancashire Terrilorials in 
CaUipoli (Country Life Library, is. (xL net), is rigiitly called 
" an epic of heroism." for, though in the eyes of most people 
the deeds of the Colonials have overshadowed the work of the 
Imperial units ser\ing in that campaign, yet there are stories 
to tell of the men of Blackburn, Wigan, J:5urnley, Manchester, 
and other Lancashire centres that the Colonials may equal, 
hut cannot excel. The author has been careful to emphasise 
the personal side of his narrative, by means of extracts from 
letters and individual accounts of the work in Gallipoli, and 
he lias made a book of wiiich Lancashire may well be proud. 
Simf^s, and Lyrics of Russia, translated by John Pollen, 
L.I,.D. (East and West, 3s. bd. net) is representative of the 
wcrk of leading Russian poets, including Tolstoi, Lermonteff, 
and others less well-known in this country, while there arc 
also included translations of Russian folk songs that are so 
old as to have passed beyond individual authorship. The 
translation has not only preserved the poetic feeling of the 
originals, but has also reproduced and made real the national 
characteristics that such a book should convey to its readers. 
.\ pamphlet based upon an experiment in village organisa- 
tion made by Mr. W. R. Boeltcr, entitled Parish War Socielies, 
How tlicv are Formed and Conducted is now published by 
Smallholders Union, 7, Queen Street Place. E.C. The author 
claims that the parish Ts the right unit of organisation, and 
he gives manv practical hints how a sound organisation can 
be created. It is a useful little work at this moment. 
Mr. Ernest Bergholt, the well-known authority on whist 
and bridge has now brought out (Routledgc and Son, is. 3d.) 
a small volume entitled Roval Anciion Bridge. It deals 
with the laws and principles of the game, under the English 
code of 1914, and is an invaluable handbook. 
The seventh exhibition of the Sencfelder Club for the 
advancement of artistic lithograjihy, of which Mr. Joseph 
I'enncll is President, opens on Saturday at the Leicester 
Gallieries, Leicester Square. A special feature will be the 
collection of lithographs bv distinguished French artists, 
which will be shown together with those of the best fiviiig 
ICnglish exponents. Daumier, Gavarni, Delacroix, Forain, 
Steinlen, Corot, Carriere, Leperc, Legros, Rops, Fantin- 
Latour, Puvis de Chavanncs. Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and 
Willctte wiU all be well rejircsented. 
l-'or the benefit of' girls and young women with a taste for 
writing and a total lack of knowledge of how to turn it to 
account, the Society of Women Journalists is arranging -to 
take a few pupils in secretarial work and elementary journalism. 
The Society was recognised by the Queen and Queen Alex- 
andra as the official channel through which to reach women 
writers, as both Royal ladies gave generous donations to the 
War Emergency Fimd started by the Society in the first 
month of the war.^ The address of the Society is lo, St. 
Bride's .Avenue, Fleet Street, E.C. and enquiries should be 
sent to the Hon. Secretary. 
