The news from the Western front, though it is full
of sound and fury, does not for the moment signify much, except that the Germans think it in their interest to make fierce though futile attacks upon the lines of the Allies. Now it is we who are attacked at Ypres with showers of shell—five thousand in one morning—and now the French in Champagne. Next probably it will be the Belgians. The immediate object is not apparent. Probably, however, these particular attacks are intended to maintain the moral of the German Army in the trenches. The Germans know very well how dangerous inertia is, and they like to be able to point to a few hundred yards of trench carried, especially as their system of " truthful wireless " does not compel them to record recaptures. " Tell half the truth and shame the Almighty " is the maxim of Berlin.
