The calling up of men up to 25 years of age in Great Britain, and the announcement that by the end of the year she will have five million men under arms, is not only indicative of the manner in which the Empire playing its part in this war, but also of the enormous potential strength which still remains to be tapped. What has already been achieved results from the failure of Germany let loose the blitzkrieg immediately after the declaration of war, or if not then, after the reduction of Poland. General Sir Edmund Tronside, is reported to have said that the Allies "should be heartily grateful that they enjoyed seven months in which to perfect their armies." They are in a position now to await with confidence any onslaught which the German high command may contemplate making on them. That Herr Hitler did miss the bus completely as the General claims is becoming clearer every day, and the inactivity to which the German army is condemned, together with the increasing hardships attendant upon the prolongation and stiffening of the blockade may be expected to have a very definite effect upon the moral of the men, {dle at the front, and the population no longer having tales of victory handed out to them. Whether Sir Edmund is right in insisting that the German army must do something, if its moral is not to crack, may be at the moment matter of opinion, but there cannot be very much doubt that if the present state of affairs continues very much longer, the Reich may have serious domestic problems of its own to solve. The initiative is still in Herr Hitler's hands, but it is gradually passing to the Allies, not in any positive sense, but because the passage of time is in itself foreing Herr Hitler to make decisions. Thus the maintenance of the present state of affairs, and the stiffening of the blockade are factors already pressing upon the Reich, and it can only be a question of time until Herr Hitler will be forced into greater activity than he is at present demonstrating.
Reports are current that the Reich dreads the idea of having to face another winter in a state of war. The abnormal winter through which Europe has passed naturally adds to that dread, and there is ground for believing that Herr Hitler will seek to force the pace In the hope of a quick victory before the cold again settles over Europe. The old threat of widespread bombing of Great Britain and France, the boast that what Germany did to Poland can be done again and all the other menaces which have been made against the Allies simply fail to curdle their blood, for the simple reason that the Allies naturally ask what Germany thinks they will be doing once she starts to carry out her threats. It Is the knowledge that they can mete out just good as they receive which keeps Herr Hitler in a state of hesitancy, The Allies have definitely proved to the world at large that there Is not one part of Germany which their aeroplanes cannot reach, and in their determination to win this war they are fixed in their purpose to exchange blow for blow with little extra to boot. The idleness which has thus been thrust upon Germany is reported already to be having {ts effect. Neutral correspondents report that German public opinion is becoming impatient for a decisive blow to be struck against the Allies. Nazi leaders, however, no longer ox-sert that it is up to the Reich to take the Initiative, contenting themselves by merely declaring that Germany would make uppropriate reply to any initiative taken by the Allies, The vacillation which it thus shown Allied cause, because it is in fact their own, that the quicker this war is brought to a conclusion, in an Allied victory the better will it_be for everyone. Consequently the mare effective the blockade is made the shorter should be the duration of the war, for that almost wholly=depends upon the time when the shortage of those foodstuffs, which arg, now being used for making war materials instead of nourishing the people, brings about a general realization in Germany of the futi lity of prolonging the struggle. There are signs that the economic weapon is already having its effect. That is expected to become mote imposing as the months go by, and even if a good harvest this year helps Germany to face a second "winter, it will only have the effect of postponing the evil day when an under-nourished nation asks itself what is the use of following a bunch of leaders who can neither give them victory nor food enough.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.