TOPICS OF THE DAY.
"ENGAGE THY ENEMY MORE CLOSELY ! "
" UNGAGE. the enemy more closely ! " by sea and -by land, _EA under the water and in the air. That should be the nation's New Year signal. Now is the time to push them,-and push them hard on every front and.in every element. And the push must be moral as -well- as physical. In order to engage the enemy more closely, physically and morally; we must search our own hearts. We must increase our power of attack by self-sacrifice, by activity of soul, by enlightenment, and by calling on those of our own household to help us in our supremo hour of trial, for supreme hour it is in spite of the fact that the condition of the enemy is so perilous and that victory is almost within sight. We must never forget that thie is-the time when steadfastness and vigilance will be more required than at any other time-in the-war.- It is the Last pull on the rope which' is the hardest, which cuts' the hands -to the bone. All human experience shows also that it-is in this lent effort that• men mostoften fail. They will de welt-=just up to the very last. pull, but when it comes" to that, what- Bit0011 calls " niceness, and satiety" seem to overtake them, They -will not make the painful, final, soul-shaking endeavour. They prefer to let their former sacrifices go unrewarded rather than brace, themselves for the heroic touch. They listen to the tempter Sloth at the very last moment, and are content to put- up with a-half or a quarter success, which-is' often- nce sutoess at all, rather than drink the bitter cup -to the dregs. - They forget that at the very gate of Heaven stands open the quickest and the easiest road of all to the City of Destruction.
Before we touch on the physicaLneed for engaging the enemy more closely we must offer our thanks and our congratulations to the new Government for the wise step they have taken in ealltng the overseas Dominions to an Imperial War Council and`associating our fellow-citizena from oversee with the men of Britain. Though the connexion may on a superfiCial view be unapparent, this is in-reality one of the best possible ways of engaging the enemy more closely on the moral side. If we are tenipthd to listen to the call to an immediate relief from the pains of conflict, the influence of the Daughter States will brace onr hearts and arms. We shall' be ashamed even to think of leaving our work lielf finished when we remember their future. We may -be inclined to run the risk of new wars for ourselves; but we canna and-will not do so when we recall what it might involve. The 'children's- heritage is too precious. The men of Canada, of Newfoundland, of Australia, of New Zealand, of South- Africa, of India,' and of scores of other Dependencies-have brought us aid both with war cries and with prayers, and we cannot be reminded too often- that we are trustees as well as fellow-partners with them in the sacred trust of the Empire. we have to endure the misery of a decade• of war, we will endure it rather than leave them the legacy of peril instead of peace. Britain was never more vigorous than she is now: She has renewed her youth, and we may look forward to many years, possibly to many genera- tions, of potent life. Still, we cannot conceal from ourselves that the destiny of these little islands in the Northern Sea must in the last resort be to decline and to lose their relative importance. The political centre of gravity in the long run must shift. Scipio Africanus, an he looked upon burning Carthage, could not- keep down the lines of the Iliad which surged into his brain :— " The time shall come when sacred Troy must fall,
And Priam and- strong-speared Priam's sons."
He knew that sooner or later every city, like every tree of the forest, must fall. But he had no conception, for the thought was not yet born, of Daughter Nations and of States becoming immortal in their offspring in new lands. That solace was denied him. To us the thought of our decline, -inevitable, though it may be long postponed, brings no sense of hopelessness or misery as it did to the Roman. We can feel, and do feel, that in the bright new worlds of the West and the South where dwell our children, where our dear language is their laneuage, where our flag is their flag, and where the bugle notes that encircle the world awaken the same echoes in their hearts as in ours, we have an imperishable treasure.
If the loyalty of the overseas Dominions and of the Indian Empire prompts and inspires us to engage the enemy more closely, so does the splendid example set us by our Allies. France has endured agonies from which we have escaped, but she has shown herself mistress of her fate. She has proved also that she remains what in truth 'she has always been, the greatest military nation upon the earth. Others' know how to fight and die. She, like her own Jeanne, it -the mailed Shepherdess of the Flock -of War. The courage and-stead- fastness with which, inspite of-her grievous wounds; she has refused tosnegotiate'svith Germany, are an example to- us all. Equally splendid, because her sufferings are fully as great as those of France, is the way in- which-Russia has put aside all thought of 'parley with -the tempter. The Tsar's message to his troops, published on Thursday, is one of the. frankest, most sincere, most noble, and most -moving messages 'ever given to the world- The Tear speakato his soldiers-and his people with a candour and a: sympathy which show how little those understand the Russian autocracy who liken it to the mechanical, machine-made tyranny of the Hohenzollerns or to that musty skeleton of- mediaeval- oppression that grins at us•from Vienna and has made the scaffolds of Prague, Trieste, Ragusa, and Serajevo groan with their loads of patriot• victims. Not less noble- has been Italy's demeanour. A' State in which social- homogeneity and political unity are of such recent growth might have been pardoned if its people had been temporarily deluded by the thought of freeing themselves from the horrors of war. Yet Italy's bearing has been- as firm as that of any of the Allies, and we wrong her people by -even the bare suggestion of such an excuse. If the Romans who confronted the invasion of the Gauls or of Hannibal from across the mountain chain could• revisit the earth, they, would be proud of the men who sit in their seats in-the Eternal. City, and who hold the passes by which the successors of Brennus and Attila have tried to force their way into the fairest land on earth.
We have left ourselves little space in which to speak of the physical side of the injunction, " Engage the enemy more closely !" It remains, however, as essential as it always has been. It is true that the conditions of modern warfare make obedience to it exceedingly difficult, both by land and by sea. The submarine under the water and the deep trench-line under the earth have for the moment given to those who •stand on the defensive—and. Germany, except in •Rumania, is every- where on the defensive—greater strength than they have ever possessed before. The ground is entirely in favour of the batsman and against the bowler. This fact, however, must not make the bowler supine, but must nerve him to still greater efforts. " Impassible " is the only impossible word in war. However arduous the task, we must and shall find ways of attacking with effect, both- by sea and by land. Sooner or later we must get at the enemy in both elements, and if possible by a combined action. Happily, we are now in a position not merely to attack, but to take the initiative. Hitherto we have been obliged to employ the offensive-defensive. We have had to take action, not in the best possible place; but in the place dictated- to us by the general conditions' of the front, including those of a climatic- nature. We take it that we attacked on the Somme largely because it was a suitable place from which to help the heroic defenders of Verdun, and also because the nature of the soil made it possible to continue fighting there- longer in the autumn. than on any other- part of our lines. The plain of Flanders is waterlogged from October till March or April. This, however, is a delicate subject. We may at any rate hope and believe that when the spring winds perform their useful function of drying the earth, we shall find ourselves with a choice of ground that may greatly embarrass our enemies. We shall be able to hit them just when and where we like. Remember also that our daily and hourly increase in munitions and in men will greatly increase our liberty of action, and if we choose will enable us to begin a new offensive without in any way relaxing the old.
There are signs that the Germans know this, and are trembling at the knowledge. Indeed, so-much do they dread the power of initiative which they blow we shall for the first time acquire in the spring,. that they may be self-compelled to take what will be for them the terrible risk• of making one more effort to ward off our blow by attacking us themselves. They will attack, however, from desperation, and not from confidence.
In the last resort, indeed, Germany's effort at peace is due to the fact that she knows what is coming in. the spring. Now that she has learnt the hopelessness of aying to entangle us in negotiations, her dreadful internal situation and the military dangers that menace her on the Western front WO more than likely to prompt her to a forlorn hope by sea as well as land. For this -last spring of the tiger we -must be ready. We have the power to meet it, but we must he prepared morally as well as physically, for the impact will be terrific. It may come at any moment now—conceivably even before the diplomatists have had time to put the latest batches of Notee neutral and enemy, into their pigeon-holes.
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