ingle fighting group that has been shoving forward like a
wedge from the great line of attack, but of a strategic offensive led as
a unit, and everywhere winning territory, the time for which seems to
have arrived.

It is an important fact that the eastern group of the Austro-Hungarian
army will clearly not be shattered. At Zaleszcyki a stand is being
maintained, and at Boyan on the Pruth the Austrian mortars have driven
the Russians out of their next-to-the-last positions before the
Bessarabian frontier.

The speech of the Hungarian Minister of Defense of the Realm, Baron
Hazai, who a few days ago discussed the military situation of the recent
past in exhaustive fashion, is very interesting in many respects. It
doubtless aimed to set in the right light the bravery of the
Austro-Hungarian Army, for there have been persons who took little or no
note of the achievements of that army. The Minister selected examples
from the warfare of the eighteenth century, the time of the lukewarm
campaigns, and the warfare of the nineteenth century, the era of logical
and energetical battles. From this period of mobile wars, that were
carried on under the principle of energy, he came to the preparations
for the present war and estimated the number of soldiers which the
belligerent parties had drawn to the colors at between 25,000,000 and
26,000,000 men. More than half of these are to be regarded as warriors,
while the rest are doing service as reserves for the army or in the
lines of support and communication outside the fighting zone. The
highest number of fighters on a single theatre of the war included from
six to seven million fighters on both sides. The long trench warfare,
the Minister rightly pointed out, demands greater energy than was ever
demanded at any time of the troops, and a loss of from 10 per cent. to
15 per cent. of the fighting force today no longer keeps back the
leaders from executing far-going decisions. Today the fronts clash, not
in one-day or several day battles, but for weeks and months at a time,
so that many of the fighters even now have already taken part in 100
battles. These instructive and appreciative words from an authoritative
station throw a bright light upon the strength of the nations which are
sacrificing their forces in a sense of duty to their fatherland. But
the lesson which the homeland should draw from such unprecedented
self-sacrifice consists of this--always to stand as a firm protective
w