2* 
Land & Water 
June 13, igi8 
LAND & WATER 
5 CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, W.C.2 
Telephone i HOLBORN 2%it. 
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1918. 
Contents 
A Soldier of France. (Cartoon.) Bv Raemaekers 
The Outlook 
Battle of Matz. Bv H. Belloc 
The Potsdam Conference. By Henry Morgcnthan 
"Suddenly •" Bv T.cwis K. Freeman, R.N.V.K. 
Cicmenceau. By J. Couduricr de Chassaigne 
Sphagnnm. By Eden Phillpotts 
In an East Coast Town. Poem. By Sherard Vines 
The Bolo Cablegrarns. By French Strother 
Walter de la Mare. Bv J- C. Sqviire 
The Realist. (Illustrated,) By Charles ilarriott 
An Ambassador of Letters. By James Milne 
Household Notes 
P.\GE 
I 
2 
.3 
8 
11 
13 
14 
14 
f5 
^7 
18 
20 
22 
The Outlook 
AT midnight between Saturday and Sunday last, 
the enemy opened a preliminary bombardment 
of four hours' duration upon the twenty-two 
miles of front between Montdidier and Noyon. 
His action was exactly parallel to that which he 
has pursued in everv one of the blows delivered upon the 
Western front in this year's campaign, each of which has 
opened with a bombardment of similar duration and charac- 
ter. Gas shells formed the greater part of the missiles, and 
the zone covered was very deep. 
The first development of the battle followed the lines of 
the fighting of March 21st against ouf 3rd and 5th Armies, 
but on a smaller scale. It consistea in the occupation of 
the first covering lines and a determined stand by the defence 
upon the third main positions — a development which neces- 
sarily meant very much heavier losses in the attack than for 
the defence. At one point only did the assailants seize any 
portion of the main line. This was in a very important 
direction where presumably they had thrown the greater 
part of their weight. They came down the valley of the 
little river Matz, past Ressons, a movement representing 
an advance of five miles and, what was more important, a 
movement which begins the turning of the strong defensive 
position known as the Hills of Lassigny. The western haJf 
of the hills was, by Monday night, in the hands of the enemy ; 
but the Matz Valley to the west, if it can be further pene- 
trated, outflanks them altogether. 
* « * 
Though this last move has a direct territorial significance, 
being clearly an effort to reduce the French salient towards 
Noyon and to flatten out the Allied line, we must never lose 
sight of the -main truth, that the enemy's whole object is 
neither to reach a particular point in space nor to achieve a 
particular conformation of his line, but to reduce the forces 
opposed to him in men and material while he yet has a 
superiority in numbers (that is, .during the course of the 
present summer) to such a point that the struggle can no 
longer be continued. In this effort everything will turn 
upon the proportion between the losses which he suffers and 
those which he inflicts. 
He has captured, first and last, by his own account, since 
he began his offensive, not far short of 2,000 pieces and 
well over 150,000 men, yhile he has accounted in permanent 
and temporary loss otl>er than prisoners for some much larger 
number, which is, of course, unknowif. But he has only 
achieved this by throwing in the equivalent by this time of 
nearer 300 than 200 divisions. He has actually used for 
shock close on three-quarters of his available units, has put 
in at least one-third of them twice, and a similar number 
three and even four times. 
We know the length of the pause that was imposed on him 
by his losses in the first two actions — the second battle of 
the Somme and the battle of the Lys. Those losses com- 
pelled a halt for recruitment of a full month. But save for 
that indication, we have very meagre sources of information 
as to his total loss. It is to be feared that until the reaction 
began in the last battle of the Tardenois his losses were 
lighter than in either of the other two preceding struggles. 
The Imperial War Cabinet reassembles this week. Apart 
from practical purposes, it is symbolical of the greater cohe- 
sion of the British Empire which the war has' brought about. 
Not only are the self-governing Dominions adequately repre- 
sented, but India again finds a place at the board. At this 
Imperial Cabinet questions of the first moment will be dis- 
cussed. Australia and New Zealand have clearly defined 
ideas on the purification of the Pacific from the Teuton 
taint. South Africa will also have something to say on the 
same subject as it affects Africa a/id of the peril of allowing 
any Power a free hand which aims at building up a well- 
flisciplined army recruited^ from the more war-like native 
tribes. Canada has questions of her own, and all are naturally 
interested to arrive at a first-hand knowledge of the policy 
under which the war is carried on. And then there are for 
consideration economic questions of. the first importance, 
though it is difficult to see how at this stage the most of them 
can be conclusively decided. The great value of this Imperial 
Council is that it impresses on the constituent parts of the 
Empire that they have everything in common as regards 
principles and ideals, but that the ways are necessarily 
divergent, by which t^ey are compelled through circumstance 
peculiar to each, to work them out. This in itself is an 
accomplishment, for it removes misunderstandings. 
• « • 
India's representation on this occasion is notable. Mr. 
Montagu, the Secretary of State, has just' returned from a 
tour through the Indian Empire, where he enjoyed the most 
exceptional opportunities of discussing native aims and 
ambitions with representative men of its multiple races, 
classes, creeds, and civilisations. He must have returned to 
Whitehall with a very clear view of the complex and intricate 
problems which confront British statesmanship in the East. 
Associated with Mr. Montagu is the Maharajah of Patiala, 
head of the leading Sikh State. The Sikh is not only a 
splendid soldier, but has been quick to acquire Western 
education, which, when ill-digested, has rendered him at 
times an easy prey to wily German-bribed agitators. The 
loyalty of the Sikh people has never been in question, and an 
intrigue that two or three years ago threatened dangerously 
was mainly suppressed through infonnation they themselves 
willingly supplied to the authorities. The other Indian 
rep resent at i-ve is Sir Satyendra Sinha, who filled the same 
high position last year. A barrister by profession, Lincoln's 
Inn, he was ten years Advocate-General of Bengal before 
being summoned to the Viceroy's Executive Council. 
« « • 
It is exactly a year ago to-day, though, of course, last year 
June 13th fell on a Wednesday, that London was first raided 
by a squadron of Gothas. They came over at eleven in the 
morning ; crowds thronged the streets to watch the show ; 
most of the bombs fell on the western outskirts of the City. 
No harm was done to the invading machines ; the firing of 
anti-aircraft guns was desultory, and afterwards considerable 
indignation was expressed at the fall of shrapnel in manv 
districts. It was thought then by the majority that we 
ought to regard these raids in much the same light as 
thunderstorms. Not until three months later — in Septem- 
ber — were the defences of London organised on their present 
lines. There has been a steady improvement in these defences 
since that date ; though it is understood that under favour- 
able conditions of weather- and visibility, raids on even a 
bigger scale than hitherto must be expected, yet London 
now realises that the enemy cannot hit at us without being 
hit back ; the fun is not to be all on his side. The public 
mind has passed through many phases since curiosity was 
the prevailing emotion, and the climax was probably reached 
by a London working woman, who the other day remarked that 
she rather liked an air-raid, as it took her mind off the war. 
• ■ * » 
Looking back, the most extraordinary features about these 
raids was the objection raised by educated and responsible 
persons in many walk-s of life against our invasion of German 
cities on the same scale. These good people boggled over 
the word "reprisals"; they admitted we had the right of 
defence, but denied our right to defend ourselves by means 
of offence. That bad argument has gone the way of many 
other bad arguments. America has taken warning from this 
experience. Instead of talking of reprisals, her Secretary 
of State uses the more accurate phrase "reciprocal action." 
Mr. Lansing has suggested to the German Gov'/rnment that 
if it acts brutally to American prisoners of war it will inevit- 
ably be understood to invite similar reciprocal action on the 
part of the United States." It is a pity that the British 
Government did not make the same suggestion in equally 
plain language months ago. No one doubts — not even the 
German— that the United States will act reciprocally, 
promptly, and effectively if compelled to. 
