Though we realize how terrible is the strain on our
Army in Flanders, we are, of course, well aware that General French and Lord Kitchener are fully conscious of what is going on, and are taking all the measures necessary to provide the requisite reliefs, and to strengthen the line at any places where it is really threadbare. Though the strain and distress in the trenches, and the weariness of the men owing to want of sleep caused by almost continuous fighting, may be very great, and may call loudly for relief, from the higher military point of view there may be no danger. Every hunt- ing man and every man who is accustomed to riding long distances knows that it is occasionally necessary to push a horse very hard and inflict great distress upon it in order to obtain certain results. If the rider can, he gives the horse a rest or gets another mount, but the fact that he often cannot do this, and has to push on regardless of the horse's condition, does not in the least show that the horse is going to drop from exhaustion. Our troops in the trenches are suffering, but to represent them as at their last gasp would be to misrepresent the situa- tion entirely. They are experiencing the strain, we had almost said the agony, of the last pull upon the rope, the last effort in the race. That is all. That out of that agony will come success we do not doubt.
Previous page
