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REICH LOSES STRATEGIC POINTS
MR. GARVIN pointed out that Rus-
sia had advanced "to a line run-
ning north and south which on an
average is 150 miles from the former
frontier." He added that thus be-
tween the Baltic States and the mid-
die Carpathians the Russians held "all
strategic and political points famous
in old and later wars as commanding
the rivers, roads, railways, and dis-
puted racial areas" of Poland.
In addition, the desired Carpathian
oilfield was lost to Herr Hitler, who
was left with the task of "incorpor-
ating madly in his mixed empire
some 30,000,000 Slavs who cannot
be subdued in soul. In the long run
they will give him and his system
mortal wounds."
Although Moscow may give supplies
to Germany, says Mr. Garvin, they will
not be to the degree of Nazi expecta-
tion. The Soviet is working for itself,
and is likely to follow the advice of
the Russian statesman Gortchakov
"not to labour on behalf of the King
of Prussia."
Remembering the epic stories of
mass fighting which occurred in the
first few weeks of the last war, many
persons comment on the lack of re-
ported movement and incident in the
opening of the present campaign.
Allied War Policy
The well-known writer "Scrutator,"
in the "Sunday Times," devoted an
article to elucidation of the Allied war
policy. He said that the rapid col-
lapse of Poland was a great disap-
pointment and suggested that had
Russia not intervened and had the
Poles been able to hold on for another
month, as there seemed every prospect
of their being able to do, the Polish
Army might well have been able to
turn "the notorious Polish mud" to
good account against an immobilised
German mechanical army.
In a tribute to the Polish army, he
said: "Whoever is to blame for the
Polish collapse, it is certainly not the
common soldier. The resistance at
Warsaw and elsewhere shows of what
splendid military material he is made."
Turning to the British and French
policy, he said: "The foundation of
victory is our complete command of
the sea. Germany has made no secret
of her fears. She wants a short war,
and is anxious not to be drawn into
a long military struggle. Her pre-
sent problem is the reverse of 1914.
Then she had to force our lines in or-
der to win; now she hopes to win
merely by defending her own, and
forcing us to attack."
He suggested that the Siegfried
Line, although not so strong or fav-
ourably placed as the Maginot Line,
was far stronger than any German
fortified position in the last war, and
pointed out that it could only be
breached by long and careful prelim-
inary work. Any policy of mass fron-
tal attacks would be exactly what
Germany would wish, and would be un-
likely to lead to victory quickly or
slowly.
"Victory in this war," he conclud-
ed, "consists not in inflicting loss
on the enemy, or even in the ratio
of losses inflicted and received, but
in convincing the enemy that he can-
not possibly win.''
Hope In Revolution
Mr. H. G. Wells, in a letter to "The
Times," urges a full and ruthless dis-
cussion of every aspect and possibility
of the present situation in order suc-
cessfully to offer the world a revolu-
tion, which would give a renewed
lease to human happiness. "Cannot
the Western World in its inevitable
march, towards world collectivism face
its changes in the light and in an at-
mosphere of extreme candour?
"Mutual toleration of war under the
auspices of air raid precautions is
darkening everything. Are we to have
as much light as that in the streets
of the world? If not—if we are to go
on with the present regime of vague
insincerities, mutual distrust, and
sabotage—I see no hope for mankind.
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