In the eastern theatre of the war all we know
is that a battle on a tremendous scale is raging for the possession of the Carpathians, a battle in which some two million com- batants are said to be engaged. If the Russians prevail not only in the centre but on their left flank, where the Germans are making a furious effort to encircle them, we shall have reached a very critical point in the war, for there will then be practically nothing, except distance and transport difficulties, to prevent the march of the Russians to Budapest. If, on the other hand, the German counter-attacks are effective and the Russians are not able to get through the Carpathians, there will of course be a good deal of disappointment and delay. It will not, however, be worse than that. The most that the Germans can do here is to hold Russia and force her to bring up still more of her vast reserves of men. Our allies may suffer a check, but such a check, though tiresome, need be no cause of anxiety. A defeat for the Germane and Austrians means something very different- It means ruin,
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