Militarily there is very little to report on the past week in Europe, for, though there was considerable activity along the Siegfried Line between the Rhine and Luxembourg, in which the French appear to have obtained the better of the exchanges, comparatively little progress has been made. German counter-attacks designed to drive the French from newly-occupied positions met with no success' whatever, and the fact remains that while substantial French gains German territory have been made not one German soldier is fighting on French soil. Much speculation has been aroused over the reports of German concentrations near the Belgian and Netherlands boundaries, and also in the vicinity of Switzerland, but there is very little to suggest that the German command at present contemplate breaching the neutrality of any of those countries. They will not fancy a winter campaign in the mud and wet of Flanders, while there is probably no very real desire to add to the number of their enemies by infringing Swiss neutrality. One of the gratifying features of the week on sea has been the success which has attended the Allied efforts in the convoying of ships, and the hunting down of German submarines. During the past week only two British ships were accounted for, demonstrate ing that the good progress made against the U-boat menace since the commencement of hostilities is being maintained. Reports to the effect that about half the German submarine forces have been accounted for is probably correct, if Allied shipping losses form any criterion for judging, and the reports of submarines being seen much further afield suggests that the waters around Europe have been made decidedly uncomfortable for them. It is natural that questions as to how they are receiving their supplies will be asked, but, if what happened during the last war is any promise of what is likely to happen in this, the probabilities of this evil being adequately dealt with are imposing. Nor need any undue alarm be felt over the reports of a German pocket battleship being active in the Atlantic. She will very likely have a period put to her career within a reasonably short time, for history shows that the British navy have been able to strike swiftly and secretly in the past, though there will always be some speculation as to how, if indeed so important surface vessel is abroad, she managed to escape through the blockade.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.