In the Eastern theatre of the war the good news
of the past fortnight is fully maintained. It is evident that the Russians have not only fought the Germans to a stand, but that in the North, that is in the country round Dvinsk, the initiative has passed to the Russians. Meanwhile the weather is becoming bad, and the historic mud of Poland is beginning to make itself felt on the German movements and lines of communication. The truth is that the almost superhuman effort made by the Germans, not merely to push the Russian armies back, but to strike them down and extirpate them, has proved a dismal failure. No Russian army has been captured, broken up, or placed hors do combat. But the German failure, besides being a failure, has been exceedingly costly. The lives lost, prisoners taken, and general casualties have been on a colossal scale, as also has been the using up of all forms of material— shells, guns, horses, and motor transport. And the end is not yet. We are convinced that, as always in their history, the ' Russians will show themselves far better winter fighters than their opponents.
