The Cambria Daily Leader

I MORE CHEERING NEWS This morning's batch of news from the I variou-s feats of war were much more cheerful. In the East, the Russians are I making good use of their time and oppor- tunities. Although the German reports stating that they have gained certain, ad- vantages may be quite true, they are not much to crow about. In all retiring actions the army on its ivxy hack must provide for losing a certain number of men who have to hold the ground in certain positions in order that the balance of the army may get away safely. That a large number were taken prisoners is an indi- cation that they did their work well and successfully, and this is emphasised by the news from other quarters showing that the Grand Duke is getting his main forces away in unbroken order. ————————— Quite apart from that, however, is the news of serious checks to the Germans on land and on sea. They are playing a desperate game on land. Drobabiy in the hope that they will cut off retreats and catch up with the Russians. That is a dangerous line of action, especially when I it is known that the mobility of the Russian Army is practically three times more rapid than that of the Germans. The action in the Baltic has a well-defined obj-ect. The Kaiser, evidently, wants to get to Petrograd by creeping along the 1 coast. In doing this he would avoid pushing his men across a tract of land full of dangers—bad for the health of the troops and bad for manoeuvring over. In order to do this he must have co-operation between his ships and his battahons. The movement has received a check by the loss of three ships in waters where only a certain class of yes- eel can operate with any show of ease. So far as Italy and the Dardanelles are concerned, there is a continuation of satisfactory news. The Italians are push- ing forward with a persistence and strength that must be very disconcerting to the Kaiser and his ally. The fighting is very hard, and the Italiani are doing really remarkable work in getting their men and equipment about the difficult mountain passes, but they are doing it well, aId it will not be long now before we shall Deceive news that a severe blow —more severe than the Warsaw business —has been struck against Austria. In the Gallipoli area, both troops and battle- ships are progressing favourably. No one who has not been over the ground there can gauge the severity of the task In hand, and this makes the success that the Allies are gaining all the more discourag- ing to the Turko-German defenders. The destruction of a Turkish battleship is, in itself, a comparatively small matter when we consider the large number of battleships engaged in this war. It is an interesting event, however, in more than one way, and it shows that the gradual attrition of the enemy's resources in the Dardanelles is going on steadily but surely. It is difficult to restrain a smile when one reads the Turkish account of the event, which says, "The loss of the Barbarosse, however regrettable in itself, does not affect us excessively beyond the fsict that it places the strength of our ships as compared with those of the enemy in the ratio of one to ten." There is a perfectly oriental calmness about this assertion, especially when we realise which side has the one and which the ten. Lt is almost as comical as the explanation of a famous American humourist who makes one of his heroes state that "sud- denly, by an adroit movement, I placed my right eye against the 'fist of my ag- gressor." There is the other view of the case, showing that the Turks theaaeelves are beginning to realise that the "enemyV superiority in the struggle for the Dardanelles is now asserting it- self definitely. Advicas from creditable sources show that the campaign in the Gallipoli Peninsula will soon assume a phase more gratifying to the Allies. A great deal has appeared in print lately about the advent of fresh "Allies" into the arena of war. This phase of the subject must of necessity cause some anxiety to thosa who are following the course of events and hoping for a speedy termination of the contest. Unfortunately, there is such a lot of uncertainty as to what fresh combinations will be formed that people are inclined to be unneces- sarily despoadenj,. Two hopeful signs are the growing friendliness of the Scandina- vian States towards Great Britain. The temptations offered to them, especially in the case of Sweden, are kllDWll to be enor- mous. For one thing, there is the matter of a heavy run of commerce, which might be thrown into Norway and Sweden, and slipped across the narrow and quiet waters of the Baltic with a minimum of risk and cost and a maximum of profit. The final settlement of affairs in that direction mVist he awaited with patience. Natur- ally, the Governments of the nations con- cerned have a perfect right to manage their own business, and they have an equally perfect right to form their own conclusions as to whether it will pay them best to observe a strict neutrality or to throw in their lot with either of the sets of belligerents. If they decide to take no share in helping a continuation of German methods, but to do their part in bringing the war to an end by refusing to allow supplies to pass from their ports to the assis.tance of Germany, ihey will earn the thanks of a set oi rations whose friendliness in the future, when. commerce is allowed full swing again, will serve them well. During the last three or four days we haye given a series of articles at tie re- quest of the Government dealing with the question of national economy. They are based upon a much longer sec of homilies that are now being issued under Govern- ment auspices, in which the full details of a special committee's ideas on the subject, are set forth. Sober consideration of the recommenda- tions does not. help one to increase the size of his bump of admiration for gov- ernment methods. That economy is absolutely necessary is quite apparent. It has been advocated by some of the greatest economists of the day, and nearly every newspaper in the land has published something about it. The real point is: where should we begin, and to what direction sho1ùd our energies tend? The first thought suggested by the new evangel as propounded by the Parliamentary War I Savings Committee, is that if the recom- mendations made by that committee are carried out to the full, half the shops in the country will have to make a speedy jwissa-gt fthrough ihe .ball kruptcy courts. In the absence of information, more defi- nite than we have scon up to the present, the only conclusion to be arrived at is that the committee has shirked the most difficult pact of the whole subject. Every- one who has watched the returns month by month during the past year has been impressed by the appalling increases in the value of imports over exports- That is the crux of .the whole business. If it goes on much farther we shall find the merchants of the nation unable to meet their liabilities abroad in the ordinary way, and then 11P will go the rates of exchange against us, and the price of foodstuffs will be increased to something much higher than we have to bear at present. If the Parliamentary War Com- mittee wants to justify its existence by formulating a real remedy for a serious and growing evil, it should tackle the question of effecting a reduction in imports by discouraging the importation of everything tha.t can be done without. But. that- raises another question that few politicians will have the courage to handle just at present. As to the general recommendations made by the committee, we learn that one lady, after she had read the articles in the Cambria Daily Leader," asked, Why don't thoy do the thing properly?" She went on to explain that what she meant by that question -was that the Par- liamentary Committee might, be a little more exhaustive in its recommendations, and show how some of them might be carried out, even to the extent of placing everyone under a system of martial law that would include the administration of rations. Unfortunately there is one branch of domestic economy that few people in certain grades of the social scale have learned. Charwomen and model laundries are just as bad as each other in the matter of wearing out linen sent to the wash. Many women have not the slightest idea of making the most of the contents of the market basket; odds and ends are too plentiful, and the amount of food stuffs thrown into the ash-bin too much. We have heard of an artisan family in South Wales, consisting of six members, two of whom are under 16 years old, whose meat bill for five days in one week came to 38s. lOd. Experience deters us from suggesting lectures on domestic economy to the people i,n popu- lous districts. Recollections of what has been done by the municipal authorities in that direction would cause laughter if the subject were not so serious. There has been far too much tuition by certifi- cated teachers in cookery on such sub- jects as vanilla. ices. chocolate wafers, cigarettes" made of a mixture of grated cheese and dough, and 60 on, and far too little in such things as cooking meat and potatoes economically, making I nutritious soups with meat that is thrown away too often, and spending small wages to the lea-st advantage with the butcher, baker, greengrocer, and provision stores. It is very hard to say anything that might appear to oast, reflections upon our soldiers and their relatives. But we have received a communication from head- quarters drawing attention, to several prosecutions undertaken recently by the War Office against people who have made improper u. of the provisions set up by the Government for the purpose of pre- venting destitution amongst families who have their men serving with the Colours. A great deal of evidence has been collected showing that separation allowances are claimed by people who false state- ments for the purpose of Hitting more than they are entitled to receive. This practice has .boon growing to an alarming extent, and one consequence is that the authorities are compelled 'to institute prosecutions and to ask for exemplary penalties. In the interests of the gene- ral community, in the interests also of those who are really deserving, it is to ba hoped that the seriousness of the matter will be realised by those who have entered lightly upon a reprehensible system of fraud. <

THE PRIDE OF FRANCE. -0 Joffre and Napoleon Contrasted. I PATRIOTIC TENDERNESS I BY W. G. HARTOG, M.A., F.R.S.L., Docteur ds I'Ur.iv&rsiie de Paris, Examiner in the Ur.ivercity of London. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FOR centuries French and English i have been keen foes and rivals by land aud sea, but, be it remem- bered, their enmity and rivalry has always been open and chivalrous. The manhood of these two great nations is now fighting shoulder to shoulder, and mingling its blood on the stricken fields of trance and Belgium, in united efforts to lid these fair lands of the German Huns Ie would he well for us to consider the qualities of our neighbours and allies, to realise what France's patriotism means, with its mixture of tenderness, of pride, and duty. Patriotic Tenderness. There is no need to define patriotic tenderness which in all cases attaches it- self to the soil; it is an affection for the soil, and is apt sometimes to produce a feeling of foreignness with regard to other parts of the same nation. Among the nations under the British Crown, there is one that still retains that tenderness to perfection. The Irish have it, and they retain it even in exile. The reason is not far to seek. Ireland has long been poor, unhappy and ill-used. All these in- fiuer.e&s tend to increase the pathetic influences of ■ patriotic feeling. If Ire- land, as we all hope, should soon become rich and happy, her patriotism may re- main as powerful as ever it was, but it will lose something of its intensity of pathos and tenderness. And so with the French nation, patriotic tenderness is very strong. The Frenchman has not the Englishman's tendency to form attachments for places outside his native land. Few, if any, Frenchmen who have sojourned long in England form any local affection there. They may keep a grateful recollection of English homes where they have been well received, but, they seldom have. any real delight in England as a country. Their Love of France. Their love of France is dominant, and ever calls to them in a voice not to be denied. This love that the French have for France is extraordinarily deep-rooted, and is associated with many innocent illusions. They believe France to be the only perfectly civilised country in the world, the home of all the arts, of all scientific and intellectual culture, the place where political and religious liberty is complete and unassailable. It is there that they feel most at home, and this is perfectly natural, for it is only there that they can obtain those superfluities which are necessary to them-the elaborate cooking, the abundant variety of food, the varied drinks, the talk in the cafes, the lively and cutting newspaper articles wjuch appeal to them, nd the clever* plays to which they crowd nightly. The French have not. forgotten the historical associations of the past. They keep the old provincial names and take a pride in them. The Burguadian is still a Bur- gundian, though none the less a French- man too. the towns have an ad- jectival name for their inhabitants which strengthens the local tie. The in- habitant of Dieppe is a Dieppois: of Sens, a Senonais; of aney, a Naneeen. Thus a. Frenchman ever remains the son of his native town, just as an Oxonian of his University. Now this local feeling is not so strong in England. To be sure we have our counties, but wo have no living tradition of historical provinces, and apart from Londoner, Mancunian, and Liverpudlian (a hateful word) there is nothing to connect a man with his native town. Patrie." The very words used in the two coun- tries are in themselves an indication of the state of feeling. The word pays a6 employed by writers for the whole of France is exactly equivalent to the country as employed by Eng- lish politicians; but this same word pays, when it is employed by the French peasa.nt to denote the locality to which he is hound by ties of birth and affection, has no equivalent in English. It cannot be trans- lated without a phrase. But the greatest difference in language is the entire absence in English, of any word having the peculiar emotional value, the sacredness of patrie. The Frenchman never employs the word patrie for com- mon purposes. Our word country is no equivalent save in the phrase. Your King and County £ <ieed You." It is no equivalent because it is used in many non- emotional senses such as to go to the country for a change of air." "to ride across country," to appeal to the country." Here the word" country can be translated by pays and canipagne, but patrie never stands for anything but the land we should be ready to die for. If you go to France now, you will hear the word frequently, but never used without visible or suppressed emotion, and seldom with dry eyes. The Burning Sense of Wrong. Happily we English have not for many centuries been educated in that kind of experience most favourable to tenderness in patriotism. This country has not yet been invaded. No Englishman knows what it is to have foreign smdiers dese- crating his town, his village or his home. Xo Englishman had had so far to endure what the Belgians and French have en- dured at the hands of invading and ruth- less ',Oes. I- The raid on Scarborough and other East Coast towns is a mere pin- prick compared to what France suffered in 1870 and what she and Belgium are suffering now. And in default of this experience no Englishman can feel the burning sense of cruel wrong to his coun- try that men feel when its sacred soil is viola.ted. He cannot even imagine what it is, Apart from the element of tenderness, the element of pride is intensely strong in French patriotism, though perhaps not so strong as it was before 1870. Pre- vious to that year the French would not hear about the possibility of defeat; the incomparable elan of the troops, the well- known furia. franccse were sure to carry everything before them. French Self- Restraiit. But since their disaster, boasting of that. kind has not been heard from French lips; the only pride of the French has been in their self-restraint, and in the quiet perseverance with which they have reconstituted their Army. And with this has come a change in tbe national char- acter of the French which has clearly manifested itself in the present war, by their patience a.nd prudence on several very critical occasions. The present. cam- paign in France is being fought by methods totally opposed to all that we know of French strategy in the past. General Joffre's famous dictum: Je lee grignot.te (" I nibble away at them ") is diametrically contrary to the N-apoleocnic^ method of warfare. And so we seft, that where the French were formerly "rnsh, impetuous and lightheaded, they have become cool and circumspect. Patriotic Duty. Finally, we must admire in the French that sense of patriotic duty which has enabled them to accept the heavy burden of universal military service, and quite recently to pass the Law of Three lears" in spite of the outcries of the Pacifist?. The Frenchman of military age considers himself as a. citizen who is paying the t.ax of blood to his mother country, or in other words, who i doin? the mrt honourable ?ork of his whole lifo. Wha?T?r he may I afterwards accomplish in that station of life to which he is ca lled whatever wealth or fame he may win, he will never (i,, anything with a truer dignity than thaf scantily paid work with his regi- ment. The Frenchman, even though lie. be of v-palthy parfuts. feels it a nobler thing to sweat on a dusty rowl. bearing his heavy kit and rifle, than to display spot- less linen in a carriage. He deems it higher to groom liis captain's horse and to clean the stirrups or the stable than to be groomed himself by the hairdresser. ?otjiin? can exceed the simple cheerful- ness with which military duty is accented in France. It is not always liked, it is not always rlE-asant, hut it is invariably accepted with unflinching good humour. So it is good to know that the entente cordiale has become an alliance, sealed and ratified in blood. We may look for- ward with confidence to a happy issue of the war with such Allies to share with us its perils, its sufferings, and its vic- tories. [Dr. Hartog, honoure d of two Universities, I Paris and London, two great cities now more closely united than ever before, analyses in this interesting- article the French temperament he knows so well. —1S7I) and 1911 are contrasted.]

"SUFFERED FriOM THROAT." I Amusing Interlude in I Aberavon Suit. At Aberavon on Monday, Sa-Ta.h Ann Allen, Marl! jorough House, Tonmawr, sum- mOIled her husband. James Allen, Pen-er- engine Farm, Toirna, for persistent cruelty and desertion. Mj-. Lewis M. Thomas appeared for com- plainant and Mr. A. Jest.yn Jeffreys for de- fendant. Mr. Thomas said the parties were married in there were eleven chilili--r)-ali alive. In November last defendant came home in a. drunken .state a.nd threatened to beat hrs wife. and wanted his son to go out to fight, and later threatened to brain them all. Complainant said that defendant had often assaulted her, and had on one occa- sion broken her noee. David Allen, son of the parties, jiaid that in November defendant came home like a lunatic. Defendant, on oath, denied any desertion and cruelty. The cause of the bother was that his son started in a, butcher's business and witness objected to it. He found the stock getting less and no account given of it. He. was quite willing to take bis wife back now. He had no complaint against her. In reply to Mr. Thomas, defendant said he workeri ss a collier when his health per- mitted. He suffered from throat trouble. (Laughter.) The Bench dismissed the case.

GERMANY'S AIMS I Betihniann-Hollweg Hopes for I Freedom of the Seas. An e,t,,prin A.mrieln attempt to I draw the Kaiser on the Warsaw vic- t01Y, and to c(?cure a first-dass piece of copy, is revealed in the German official news circulated by wireless last evening. The United Press, with a neatly baited cable, asked the War Lord for a pro- nouncement, addressing its request to the German Emperor, Poland "—a delicate touch of flattery. On Monday it got a reply from the Imperial Chancellor, the notorious author of the scrap of paper declAation. In this Bethmann-Hollweg still maintains the preteoice that Germany is fighting a defensive war in the in- terests of freedom and civilisation. The messages are as follows:— August 7th.—From New York to his Majesty the Germ a n Emperor, Poland: The United Press, serving seven hun- dred of the principal American news- papers, respectfully asks your Majesty to I telegraph us at this moment of Ger- many's great triumph an expression of the historic significance of the German vic- tory in Poland, or a statement of the basis which Germany considers necessary to secure European peace, and civilisation the surest advancement. May we re- spectfully urge upon your Majesty the immense possibilities existent in the pres- sure of neutral opinion for peace when definite and just terms can be formu- lated ? August 9t.li—Berlin to the President of the United Press, New York: His Majesty the Kaiser regrets not being able, for reasons of pnnicple, to comply with the request of the United Press for a personal proclamation on the occasion of the success of the allied Ger- man and Austro-Hungarian armies. While having the honour of thus advising you, I may add the declaration that Germany, before all, hopes this victory will hasten the termination of this war. At the same time, I beg to remind you how the Kaiser in all his proclamations, and rntly on July 3,lst of thiosyear, has declared that Germany is fighting for a peace which will guarantee her, and with her the Powers which are fighting the great battle on her side, such firm safe- guards as she needs for a lasting peace and her national future. Far across the frontier of Germany this peace for which w« are striving will guarantee to all nationalities the freedom of the oceans, and will offer possibilities to every nation of serving the work of progress and civilisation by means of a free, world- wide commerce. — Bethmann-Hollweg. —Wireless Press.

THE mkm HOUSING SCHEME. I At a meeting of Margam District Coun- cil on Monday, a letter was read from the Local Government Board in refew?nee to the application of the Urban District Council of Margam for sanction to loans of £5,254, and £!L.7H8 for the purposes of schemes for the erection of working-class dwellings at Taibach and Boyn respec- tively. Board express themselves eatisned as to the necessity for the scheme, but state that, in view of the conserving of funds for local purposes, the work must be postponed.

"LEADER" BOY TO THE RESCUE I A lame Leader seller named Joseph Bedlev (15'). of Tontine-street, on Monday evening, made his second rescue of children drowning in the Canal. Richard Hughes, aged h, of 18, Powell- street, was with r„ Dumber of other ohiklrc.n, playmg on the canal bank near the locks, when he fell in. The others shouted, but the child woiS-ld have drowued but for Bedley, who arrived just as he was sinking for the third time, and plunging in without, hesitation, effected a plucky rescue. Bedley's conduct deserves recognition. /&

BEHIND THE VISTULA RUSSIAN SETIREISIE3T CARRIED OUT SUCCESSFULLY. AN ISOLATED FORTRESS The retirement of the Russians froin the Warsaw salient goes on steadily ati every point. Heavily pressed by von Gall- witz and von Scholtz on the north and by von Mackensen on the south, the Russian; commanders are endeavouring to with- t draw between these two advancing forces; the armies which recently held the Vis- f tula line. This difficult movement has apparently been conducted so far without) misadventure. In leaving the V istu lai line the Russians were obliged sooner oc later to abandon the fortress of XOWCK Georgiewsk to its fate, and this" ad- vanced sentinel" of Warsaw is now saidk to be ci-i t off. Its isolation will become more accentuated as the retreat con- tinues. On the northern face of the salient, to* wards the Xarev, the Russian resistance is most tenacious. In this difficul t, country, which has few roads and extern sive tracts of forest, the Germans advance I towards the Petrograd railway very, slowly, and they are still nearly ten, miles from this line. Higher up, towardg, Lomza, the great swamps of the Narevj have made their advance impossible. On the western face of the salient tha Russians have now retired at some points some 2fI miles from the Vistula. The* Austro-German troops who are pushingf north on the immediate left flank of thesq armies are now advancing at a more rapid); rate with the object of cutting off their) retreat, but there is no evidence of anjjj break in the Ru&sian line. Since vont; Mackensen's left wing passed the Lublin^ railway a litle over a week ago it has? gained at some points 25 miles. On the extreme north the position at:>j Riga has been relieved by a Russian suc-j cess south of that town. The whole off this region to a distance of nearly 2al miles from Riga has now been cleared oZ the enemy. Approaching Kovno. Amsterdam, Monday.—The followinio communique was issued in Berlin to-day r; In the Eastern theatre of war our aUt tacking troops approached closer to thfr fortress of Kovno, capturinsr 430 R1.tS6ian." among them three officers and eight machine gun. Towards the northern end of tha1 western front of Lomsa we progressed after severe fighting. We took three, officers and 1,100 men prisoners, capturing seven machine guns and one armoured} motor-car. South of Lomaa we reached the road ht Ostrow, and crossed the road Ostroww Wyszkow. The enemy, offering a stub- born resistance at some /points, was r&« pulsed. Novo Georgi-evsk as now cut off on tlia east side. Between the Narev and Vistula we have occupied Praga. Our troops are advance ing further eastward-. In Warsaw we captured several thoaJ The South-Eastern Theatre of Wa.r.—? &and Russians. The army of General Von Wovrsch, pur* suing the enemy, crossed the road GarnoiW Ryki, nDrtlHast of Ivan?orod. The left wing of General Von Maof kensen'? army pushed the Russians bac? across the Vieprz. Our centre and right wing i? appro achyj ing the line Ostrow-Gransk-Ugrusk, on tl-to Bug. Saarhrneken is on the eastern border 04 Lorraine* in Rhenish Prussia. It is ant important garrison and railway town witlt. a population of about 30,0011. It was thai scene of the first engagement in the warn of 1870. 1 RESTLESS PURSUIT A Russians Defeat Turkish Forces in the Caucasus. Petrograd. Monday.—The followi communique from the (reneral Staff (1f!. the Army of the Caucasus is issued h-erea On Saturday and Sunday nghting a veloped aton? fhe ?h?l? front from tti Riv?r Tortum to th? Enphratp6. ) There was no essential change nearf Oltv. and in the Passin Ville Valley, (111 Olty. an d in I'as- the direction of Dai a our troops on Sun4 day evening attacked the Tariatidegs1, ridge, and occupied the portion of itg lying north of the double pass 015\ Morglieimer. i 'nie Turks made several connter-alWj tacks, but were defeated in each case. J In the direction of the Euphrates onrJf cavalry vigorously charged the Turks a.? Dntakh. and eight officers and 300 &,?? -1 were captured, as well as a convoy o? camels, some hundred heads of cattle, aj telegraphic station, munitions, arms, a provisions. In the Euphrates Valley, near the vflj lage of Okhan, a desperate fight too place. j Our forces are pursuing the Turk4 without giving them any rest. ij I PLANS At TERED, j Germans Now Aiming ad Capture of Ossoweics. (Exchange War Service). I retrograd, Monday—The Russian n papers assume that Germany is altcr her plans on the Eastern frontier, arnt), now aims at Ossoweics, which is stron?l? fortified. Fresh enMny troops are &p? parently being brought up, J The Petrograd Press also states that th^Jj enemy operations towards Riga ha??l failed Gntircly. Thu Novoe V remya. failed entirely. says the German have been thrown b to Mitau, which is the reason for that sudden attack at Kovno. 1 Tlie Baltic newspapers state that th German troops left Raust (P pro Bausk) which would mean that Mitafl is now in Russian possession. If this I correct, the Russians have gained vio4 tories which will soon prove to be of th: greatest importance. Warsaw Library Lost. Petrograd, Sunday.—Delayed informal tion has been received hero that that magnificent library of the University CrA Warsaw could not he removed in time tat prevent its falling into the hands of tlia enemy.

A SEA OF FIRE. < There has he?n mllh ado at PorfJio?'?t over the Btrango appc&ranr? during th?j past fe- ni?hbs of a patch of 6(', several hundreds of yards in dim?BSM-ns. T patch presents the appearance of a r>eaq. fire.

A LOGICAL VIEW. A? Aberavon on Monday, John Pow.e3,? coH'?ry labourer. A?Tg?-yn?. wa. sum.} mon? for using bad language on th«( 21st, and 22nd July. The Clerk: Are you guilty or no guilty? Defendant: I was much arrnoyd, and ri don't remember. I must have said some- thing or I wouldn't have been bf ought, here. (laughter). f¡ He was fined Ws.. in each o"