One of the tests of the truthfulness of the declarations of Governments at war is what they actually tell their own people. Judged by that standard preference must be given to what Moscow is telling its own people and the world at large of the gravity of the situation. Reuter in this connection reports:—"nevertheless, a stern note rings through all newspaper comment, and the Press does not overstress the fact that the Russians are now energetically counter-attacking on the Len-ingram front, that the German moves against Murmansk have been checked, and that the situation at Odessa is slowly improving. Neither the gravity of the present drive by Hitler's seemingly inexhaustible columns on the central front, nor the fierceness of the struggle on the shores of the Sea of Azov has been hidden from the people, At the same time, however, it is stressed that large Russian reinforcements are being flung into the battle" Those few sentences give an adequate idea of the frankness with which Moscow is telling the Russians and the world of the progress of the greatest battle in history.
Yesterday was the eleventh day of the fighting in which the Germans are attempting to smash the centre of the Russian line and drive their way to Moscow, to which it has io be admitted they are appreciably closer than when the offensive started. It has been a very anxious week-and-a-half, and there, is still cause for much anxiety. But there is consolation in the fact that the German communique towards the end of last week were not so flamboyant in tone, and that a degree of moderation, totally foreign to their "boasting earlier in the week, has crept into their more recent announcements. No more is heard of fantastic claims that the Russian armies have been annihilated. There is reason to believe that they are fighting a stern:-rearguard action under the enormous pressure which the Germans have been able to "apply, and are inflicting casualties upon them gluite out of proportion to the gains they have made up to the present. That they are throwing every available reserve into the fray in order to give the Russians no rest is plain, but the expense must inevitably be great.
How long they will be able to maintain their present tempo remains to be seen, but they cannot continue indefinitely. and if the engagement has not yet reached its climax it should not now be very far away. If before that comes they have reached Moscow the feat they will have performed will indeed be imposing, and should have a good effect upon -moral in Germany, which while not bad cannot be said to be good. But German occupation of Moscow will not necessarily mean the end of the war. That cannot come ^"üntil the Russian armies have been completely crushed and there is no evidence swhatever.—except extravagant German claims which no reasonable person will accept—to show that they have inflicted any of the catastrophes which they so facilely allege upon the Russian forces, The Russians Mav be forced to go as far back as the Urals. If they can do that and give: their armies félatively intact they can, continue fighting. True, the loss of the industrial centres of the Ukraine constitutes a serious blow, but it is "known that for some time past the Russians have been setting up other industrial areas behind the Urals which may by now be able to make valuable contributions in the matter of supplies, Another important and interesting point is that there has been, up to the present, no indication that any of the Russian forces in Siberia have been recalled to European Russia. It will be remembered that it was part of the Russian military plan to have the European and Siberian armies as two entirely separate units, self-contained, and equipped to deal with their own problems. It is unlikely that the Soviet would weaken their position in Siberia by reducing the army there to any great extent, but tt is thought in some quarters that a certain proportion of men and material could be diverted to European Ri sia should the situation demand it. That would probably only be done at the very last moment. The fact that it has not yet been done, and the calmness which prevails in European Russia behind the Russian lines are some indication that, grave as the position undoubtedly is, it has not yet become desperate. It need not become so even if the Germans reach Moscow, so long as the Germans are unable to transform the Russian retreat into a rout. That even Berlin does not claim, possibly because Goebbels, who is obviously getting somewhat stale, has not thought of it, and until, that/becomes a fact Hitler will have failed to attain his main objective,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.