23 DECEMBER 1916, Page 2

The .chief items- of war news—ite., the great victory of

the French at Verdun, and the outcome of- the Rumanian retreat— are dealt with by us at length- elsewhere. Here we. will only say that the word " glorious " befits the deeds done by our French Allies, and the phrase " not unsatisfactory" those of the Rumanians. We deeply sympathize with the sufferings of our most recent Ally, but we fully recognize,, and are grateful for, the steadiness and en- durance -with which the Rumanian armies have maintained their moral under the severest ordeal to which an army could be ex- posed. They had to retreat, and retreat rapidly, under terrible weather conditions-in the face of an army not only highly-practised in war but with a great superiority in artillery.