U ^i I Hollinger Corp. pH8.5 108 GREAT BRITAIN'S ACHIEVEMENTS BY HAMILTON BELL G. ARNOLD SHAW GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL NEW YORK Date of Issue, November i, 1917 ^•-Wjr'v Great Britain's Achievements An American author has astutely summed up the British attitude towards the war somewhat thus : — The British are incorrigibly shy. They will commit efficiencies, but nothing will induce them to talk about them. One reason is that they are a subjective and introspective people. Their whole occupation is with character. In the text books of the Naval Technical Schools, where boys of the rank and file are trained in thousands as seaman and gunners, this is the first requisite insisted on. A boy must have character; having developed this he may try to develop his intelligence; next comes health. Having these, in this order, he is ready to proceed with his education. This results in the national passion for personal liberty. What a man does is what matters — what he knows is secondary. British achievements are nothing, British character is everything. Almost every writer of distinction that Great Britain has pro- duced has told them that they are stupid and they have placidly adopted it as a conventional self-depreciation- — but it makes not the slightest dent in their actual self-confidence. A typical instance of this may be found in the reply of Lord Robert Cecil, a prominent member of the present British Government, to a question, put to him in the House of Commons, designed to commit the Foreign Office to the admission of a muddle. He replied that the Gov- ernment remained in office because the House of Commons allowed it to. As long as the House of Commons allowed it to remain in office it would continue to govern.- It would govern as well as it could, doubt- less however, in view of enormous difficulties in the case it would continue to govern badly. In the same way they make little of the heroism of their country- men ; this is not altogether due to their innate prejudice against personal revelation. Heroism is more or less a glorification of war 3 and as a people the British are anti-military, they are anti-war, and anti-violence, anti-heroic; humorous stories of the war are ten times more numerous among them than heroics ; they secrete their efficien- cies and suppress their heroisms. They are anti-violence. The number of murders in all England and Wales during the ten years 1904-1913 was 2,982; in the same ten years the number of murders in Chicago and the Borough of Manhattan totalled 3,561. Against authority as authority the British people set up not merely regulations but the constant threat of simple disobedience. Officers resigned from the British Army when they thought they were to be sent to fight the Ulster men in 1914. Similarly officers, among them Sir Geoffrey Amherst, General Conway, Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Earl of Effingham and many others resigned from the British Army in 1776 rather than take part in a war against the American Colonies of which they did not approve. The Corporation of the City of London gave the Earl of Effiingham a sword and a vote of thanks for preferring the Cause of the Colonies to that of the Crown. Let us not forget that it was not only Statesmen like Burke who resented and did their best to obstruct and nullify the action of George III, who was not only a German brought up by a singularly wrong headed German Mother, but was also insane, having had several serious attacks, early in his reign, before the final complete giving away of his mind in 181 1. All this produces a people the very antipodes of the Germans. The German Government symbolizes authority more perfectly than any other in the world. The war to the British, therefore, is a war against the very principle of unrestricted authority and its most powerful engine — war. A free Government can never employ that engine as promptly as a Government incarnating ruthless unrestricted authority. As soon as Belgium was invaded the whole British people desired this war. So far as a nation of free men can be a unit, Great Britain was a unit then and is at this moment for war with no end until the goal is reached. They desire it, they are a unit for it in the same spirit as Words- worth's "Happy Warrior," 4 "Who if he be called upon to face, "Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined, "Great issues, good or bad, for human kind, "Is happy as a lover, and attired "With sudden brightness, as a man inspired:" that inspiration, that Happiness of dedication one does indeed see in England — but, apart from such spiritual elevation, the British began with detesting war as an external act and detest it now. This much being premised let us glance at what Mrs. Humphrey Ward calls "England's Effort," Great Britain's part in the War. We will do this in no spirit of vain-glory, but soberly and modestly record what has been done, what is being done and what will continue to be done to the end. The German propaganda in this and in the neutral countries has persistently fostered the belief that Great Britain has been, and is, leaving the work to be done by her Colonies and Allies, so that it becomes necessary for even the shy, reserved and inexpressive Briton to lift a corner of the veil which shrouds his activities. Despite a certain amount of not very intelligent carping at the seeming inactivity of the British Navy, it is generally admitted that unless it had been, as it was, ready to the last man and the last gun on August 4th, 1914, Germany's task would have been much easier — that she might have achieved her aim and defeated the Allied Powers in detail. As it was. Great Britain, at once assumed command of the seas and has kept it ever since, for despite the U boats, in 1916, 43,000,000 tons of which 14,333,000 tons were food stuffs, munitions and war material, entered her ports, as against 58,000,000 in 1913. The exports and imports in the port of New York for the years ending June 30th, 1917, were valued at $8,900,000,000 1916, " " " $6,531,000,000 " " 1915, " " " $4,443,000,000 19 14, " " " $4,259,000,000 The Right Hon. Arthur Balfour was able to announce that "the growth in our navy which has gone on and still is going on, is something of which the general public has not the slightest concep- tion." "In the matter of munitions alone we have as many men work- ing for our Navy as France for her glorious and superbly equipped Army," and again in September, 1916, he said : "The tonnage of the Navy has increased by well over 1,000,000 tons since the war began." The tonnage on July ist, 1914, was estimated at 2,713,756 (World Almanac). 5 Admiral Hornby of the British Navy said: "I consider I have command of the sea when I can tell my Government that they can move a force to any point without fear of enemy interference." The facts speak for themselves, the Allied ships whether men-o'-war or merchantmen, are at sea. Where are the German ships? After the Declaration of war in August, 1914, no ship left a German port nor any foreign port if bound for Germany. A few German warships were afloat on the oceans of the world, but before the end of five months they were all sunk or interned. The British and Germans both claini victory in the Battle of Jut- land. We have announced our losses, Germany has concealed hers even from her own people ; the great naval port of Wilhelmshaven has been sealed so effectively that no patriotic German can look upon his victorious ships. What does the result seem to indicate? The British blockade is more stringent than ever. Do the German ships go to sea since that fight? No. Do the ships of the Allies? Yes. And what of the British Merchant Marine which in 1916 totalled about 15,000,000 tons? 14,000,000 tons of these are employed in home service and 6,500,000 tons were in the Government service until October, 1916, when the Government took control of all British ship- ping. In that month Sir Edward Carson told the House of Commons that since the outbreak of the war, 8,000,000 men have been transported from all parts of the Empire together with over 1,000,000 sick and wounded; over 1,000,000 horses and mules; 9,420,000 tons of supplies and munitions and 47,504,000 gallons of petrol have been carried for their use to all the widely scattered battlefields of this colossal world war. Besides this more than 25,000 ships have been searched for contraband of war. Despite the great and ever increasing risks the men of this vast organization have cheerfully defied them and gone to sea as usual. In 1914 the British Navy mustered 140,000 officers and men, it now (1917) has 400,000; the merchant marine many times more. It is sufficient testimony to the work done by the British Fleet in this war to say that if it were eliminated from the contest the war would end in Germany's favour and her invasion of the practically defenceless United States would be instantaneous. Bankrupt Ger- many has boasted that she expects this country to pay the most colossal indemnity ever exacted by a conquering nation and she would come for it without a moment's delay — and get it. The British financial policy in the war has been the embodiment of the will of the people about the war as a whole : Thorough ! In this 6 spirit it has borne the heavy taxations necessary to meet its obliga- tions and keep the national finances on a sound basis. It has, with true democratic patriotism, refused to impose the monetary cost on the future and is giving- of its funds as of its blood to purchase peace and prosperity for the generations to come. It has, since the beginning, as President Wilson advised this nation, met as much as possible of the cost of war out of revenue, and is not, as the German Finance Minister announced, leaving the settlement of the war bill to the conclusion of peace, and the time after. Let us see what this means. The war is costing the British nation thirty-one and a third millions of dollars a day. From August i, 1914, to March 31, 1917, her expenditures were: Normal peace expenses $ 2,760,000,000 Advances to Allies, etc 4,800,000,000 Other war expenses 13,825,000,000 Total $21,385,000,000 Her Receipts : Tax yield $ 5,410,000,000 Borrowings 15,975,000,000 Total $21,385,000,000 Of the $15,975,000,000 borrowed, $9,830,000,000 have been raised at home by war loans, and in addition, 500,000,000 of War Savings Certifi- cates have been taken up by the British people in small amounts. If we deduct the loans to Allies, which will be eventually repaid, we find that Great Britain has raised One dollar to every 2.56 spent. Surely a satisfactory handling of national finance. The provision for the redemption of her indebtedness is equally satisfactory. So that if peace comes next year the English tax payer will have no fresh burdens to face ; Germany, in view of the fact that she will be able to collect no indemnities, will have to pay at least three times as much as before the war. The result of this sound financing and the readiness and ease with which it has been supported at home is the maintainance of British credit abroad. Up to the end of 1916, the Bankers of the United States had lent to Great Britain $1,125,000,000, to Germany, only $20,000,000. There was no possible compulsion either way. The United States was at war with neither nation. The difference represents the opinion of the American public of the ultimate solvency of the two European nations. 7 This is corroborated by the value of the Pound English, and the German Mark respectively; in exchange in Amsterdam, which is practically equidistant from London and Berlin, the pound sterling has depreciated only 3% while the mark has fallen 37J^%. The enemy is fond of asserting, and its assertions have been given wide publicity through the terribly efficient German propaganda, that England began the war. Contradicting herself in the same breath with the familiar sneer about the "Contemptible Little Army." Alas ! at the opening of the war the sneer was only too well justified since the entire British Army at that date consisted of only 450,000 men, including reserves and special reserves ; of these over 100,000 men were serving in India, Egypt, South Africa and other parts of the Empire. The result was that the Expeditionary Force which Great Britain was able to transport to France under cover of darkness on the nights of August I2th and 13th, 1914, eight days after the Declaration of War, was only about 80,000 to 90,000 men ; 15,000 horses and 400 guns. Truly from the point of view of the fully prepared enormous German Army of about 9,000,000, a despicable little force. Is it conceivable that Great Britain, with such an army, began the war against such odds. Small though the force was, it is doubtful if so large a one has ever been carried over seas, absolutely without loss, in so short a time, in history ; the hours of darkness in England in August are not more than seven. Four days before this, on August 8th, Lord Kitchener had called for 100,000 men. In two weeks, by August 22nd, he had them. In the fifth week of the war, September 2-8, that which the disastrous retreat from Mons ended, a quarter of a million men volunteered (250,000), 30,000 of them in one day. By the end of September 1,000,000 men were enlisted and the daily increase was steady. It has been said that the volunteering in Great Britain hung fire and had not assumed any efficient proportions until stimulated by the Zeppelin raids. These are the official facts — A steady stream of volunteers towards the Colours had produced 1,000,000 at the end of September, 1914, seven or eight weeks after Kitchener's call had rung through the Empire. By January 19th, 191 5, when the first Zeppelin attacked our Coast, we may assume from a quarter to half a million more men, since by July, 2,000,000 had enlisted voluntarily — and from October to December (inclusive) of the same year 2,250,000 more, making a total of 4,250,000 VOLUNTEERS to their country's service. The first serious Zeppelin raid over London did not occur until the end of May, 1915, by which time as we have seen, 1,250,000 to 1,500,000 had joined. On February loth, 1916, the Military Service Act came into force ; but since on May 2nd, Mr. Asquith, then Prime Minister, stated that in the twenty-one months of war Great Britain had enlisted over 8 5,000,000 men it is clear that Conscription, instead of providing the bulk of our armies-, had only added a matter of 750,000 men to an overwhelming preponderance of volunteers. This then is the stature to which our "contemptible little army" has grown. We have to-day 3,000,000 men serving on all fronts ; in France and Flanders, in Italy, in Salonica, in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Palestine, Galicia, East Africa, wherever an Ally needs help. Over 2,000,000 of these are on the Western Front, composed of 1,670,000 from the British Isles, 139,000 Canadians, the same number of Australians and New Zealanders, 12,000 Indian troops and 6,000 South Africans.* Besides these, nearly another million is employed in the ordinary duty of garrisoning the enormous British Empire, and 2,000,000 in reserve in the British Isles to be drawn on as needed at the Front ; which is incessantly, for when it is realized that the monthly casualties are often as big as 28,000 it may be seen what huge drafts are required to fill up gaps. The statement however has been authorized that neither in England, Ireland or India, are there any fully trained troops. Let us now briefly study its achievements. When the British Troops first faced the Germans on August 23rd, 1914, they were outnumbered five to one by the enemy before them. This was at Mons, about 35 miles S. W. of Brussels. By the evening of the 25th they had been forced to retire, fighting steadily, to a line of about 15 miles between Cambrai and Le Cateau; here they made a gallant stand on the 26thi but had to continue the retreat with a loss of between seven and eight thousand men and about eighty-four guns ; these last the greater number of the total which have been lost during the entire war. Fighting continually, the retreat lasted in all nine days, till Sept. 2nd, found them with unbroken lines even stronger by compression, on the Marne, South West of Meaux, the furthest point to which we were driven being a line between Courtegon and Lagny which is only 17^ miles from Paris. On Sept. 6th, the tide turned. Sir John French called on the British Army "to push on vigorously to the attack." The retreat was ended never to recommence. The advance of the British was made in unison with the French Fifth Army on their right, their duty was to keep in constant touch with the retreating Germans ; this was done, but for the first two days the brunt of the fighting was borne by the French. On the 9th the Army was back at the Marne and across it ; by the night of the 13th, they had fought their way across the Aisne and the Battle *There are of course many thousand more Colonial troops in training, both in England and at home. 9 of the Marne had been won. For the first time since the days of the great Napoleon, a Prussian army had been turned and driven. "The Invincible" had been defeated. The Battle of the Aisne continued until Sept. i8th when both sides had dug themselves in permanently on this front. Strategically and economically the war was won by the Allies when their fleets had dominated the maritime lanes of the world and the Battle of the Marne had saved France from destruction. It had cost the British some 10,000 men, and they had already lost from 12,000 to 15,000 in the retreat from Mons. It is satisfactory to reflect that the German losses had been at least as heavy and were now to increase, whereas ours lessened from that time, although the enemy was able at this time to fire ten shells to the Allies one. Early in October the total losses of the Army on the Aisne had been 561 officers and 12,980 men. Throughout the sufl'erings of the troops from cold and wet were great and they had lost waterproofs and overcoats and changes of clothing but it is comforting to note the Commissariat never failed them, and the percentage of sickness was lower than the normal rate of a garrison town. The heavy Artillery of the Allies and their air services were im- proving from day to day. The activities of the British were now to be transferred to another region. On October 3rd the new plans called for the moving of the entire British force to a line North from Bethune and La Bassee to the sea, their places on the Aisne being taken by the French. This delicate and difficult operation whereby an army of more than 100,000 men had to be replaced by an equal number, in trenches which were often not 100 yards from the enemy, was accomplished without disaster by night and the first divisions reached Bethune, nearly 100 mlies as the crow flies, ready for action, the last reaching St. Omer on the nth. They went mainly on foot though the Infantry were transported part of the way by train and motor bus. There is no denying that the length of our line at this time was lamentably short, but it must be remembered that to hold it we had only the skeletons of the heroic divisions of the regular army which had sacrificed themselves and continued to do so in a hundred fights from Mons to Neuve Chapelle and which had been filled up twice over with reservists, plus a limited number of territorial battalions, and three divisions of the Indian contingent. It was not until the spring of 191 5 that the first division of Colonial troops brought their welcome ID aid, the Canadians to France and the Australians and New Zealanders to Egypt and the other points in the Eastern Mediterranean. From October nth to November nth this gallant little army- fought an incessant battle along its whole line, which swayed back- wards and forwards under the endless attacks of the flower of the German Army. A few instances of the way the British sacrificed themselves. 6oo,cxK) Germans set out to break the British line at Ypres and were beaten back by half their number. The British losses were 50,000, the Germans at least 150,000 and the line they attacked holds to-day, where it has not been advanced into the enemy's lines. General Smith-Dorien's Army of 37,000 men, lost I0,000 in August, 10,000 in November, and 5,000 in October, by the 22nd of which month less than 50% of the original officers and men were with the Colours. The seventh Division of 18,000 men was reduced in three weeks of the first battle of Ypres to 2,336, and on November 5th had to be withdrawn from action, though it performed one other gallant act before retiring on November 7th. Lawford's 22nd Brigade, reduced to 1,100 men with 7 officers was called upon to retake a line of trenches which had just been lost. This it triumphantly did, and at the end of the day there were left of the brigade the General in command with three officers and 700 men. The losses of this brigade figure out at 97% of the officers and 80% of the men — enormous as this loss is it was little in excess of the other brigades of the Division, which, as said above, was withdrawn, numbering 44 officers and 2,336 men after three weeks fighting. That this is not an isolated case may be seen by the instance of the 4th Royal Fusileers of the 9th Brigade, which was reduced to two officers and 100 men, the 2nd Queens, 2 officers and 60 men, the 2nd Welsh, 3 officers and 93 men ; one regiment alone, the Coldstream Guards, has been wiped out and reconstituted no less than 21 times since the war began. These portentous losses are not to be wondered at when we realize that in the beginning of the Battle of Ypres 5,000 British soldiers, with practically no artillery, faced and drove back an army corps of picked German troops who had an abundance of every sort of munitions, under the eyes of their Emperor. The losses of the brief campaign on all sides, Belgian, French, British and German have been estimated to be nearer 300,000 than 250,000. By the end of November both sides had dug themselves in for the winter and what was left of the British regular army, suffering untold misery and discomfort in the trenches, for trench warfare was new then, held the hard won lines until Spring. Even when that came and with it some of the first reinforcements, which it had been possible to II train into something like efficiency, we had not an army of attack. De- fence was all it was capable of and yet it had to attack again and again without enough men, enough guns, or enough ammunition. In this last item alone the Germans could and did fire 250,000 shells to our 50,000, — 5 to I throughout this year. The army had to attack without a shadow of a chance of success and it did it; Neuve Chapelle, Hulluch, Loos where the territorials dribbled a football into action, like the school boys they were, will suffice as instances. Nevertheless, behind them, their country was working at fever heat, volunteers came swarming into the army, the factories worked day and night, Canadian troops began to arrive in Dec* and made a splendid start by repelling a German advance North of Ypres. After the failure of the Anzac troops to perform the impossible at the Dar- danelles, where they none the less covered themselves with glory, they too were transferred to the Western front, where they are fighting with the same magnificent gallantry. Let it not be forgotten that these Colonial Troops were not compelled to come or even urged unduly, all was left to their good will and the response has been over- whelming. The same is true of the South Africans ; the loyal element in that Dominion easily crushed a small revolt engineered by Germans and then proceeded without the aid of a single British Batallion to the conquest of the German Colonies in Africa. India too despite every effort of enemy sedition, has rallied nobly to the defence of the Empire and sent troops in unexpected number to fight side by side with their British "Oppressor." Thus before the year 1915 was at an end we had taken over Arras and the neighbourhood and released the sorely needed French troops for the defence of Verdun. On the conclusion of the 1915 campaign, about October 9th, the British army had sacri- ficed 493,294 men of which number 6,660 officers and 94,992 non-com- missioned officers and men had been killed. A truly appalling loss, particularly in the vitally necessary class of officers, and one would think a sufficient answer to the baseless accusation, German inspired, that "England is saving her man power at the expense of her Allies." On the British side the great event of the year 1916 was the titanic Battle of the Somme which is reckoned as beginning on the ist of July on a twenty mile front from 10 miles north of Bray on the north bank of the river to about an equal distance to the south of it. It raged furiously and incessantly for three months, but by this *Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry arrived in the trenches before Christmas, 1914, and served in the Battle of St. Eloi early in 1915. The first Canadian Division arrived by the middle of February, and did splendid service at Neuve-Chapelle on the loth of March, 1915. 12 time fortunes of war had changed sides and the losses were German ; when the fighting died down at the approach of winter the Allies had taken 80,000 prisoners of which the British had taken half, 500 to 600 guns and more than 1,000 machine guns. What their total losses were we may not know but it is certain that of the 38 divisions engaged, 28 had to be withdrawn, exhausted or broken. So it has continued until to-day; on July ist, 1917, it was officially announced the French and the British on the Western front had captured more than 200,000 Germans, over 1,000 guns, besides immense quantities of machine guns and war material. In the three day Battle of Arras in the Spring of 1917, the British took 30,000 prisoners and about 225 guns, many of them of heavy calibre together with very many machine guns and munitions. And so it goes on prosperously. In the month of August, 1917, the British took 7,279 prisoners including 158 officers ; a total of 10,697, including 234 officers, since the morning of July 31st; we took also 6 heavy and 32 other guns, 200 machine guns and 73 trench mortars. Except for a slight retirement at Nieuport recently. Sir Douglas Haig's armies have been attacking for nearly two years — with uniform and steady success owing to the gigantic power which the British artillery and air service has now developed. During the last eighteen months we have captured the bulk of our 131,776 German prisoners, a fine showing compared with the total of 30,000 British prisoners taken by the Germans during the war. The Germans admit losses of 116,000 in May, 1917; their losses in June were estimated at 114,000. On October 4, 1917, General Maurice was able to announce that the British had captured in the first nine months of this year, 51,435 German prisoners and 332 field and heavy guns ; losing in the same time, 15.065 prisoners and no guns. Our casualties have decreased in this time nearly 4,000 a week, owing to the perfect work of our artil- lery; the German casualties being 75% greater than the British. Comment is rife on the comparatively short part of the total West- ern front still held by the British, about two-fifths of the whole, but it must be remembered that a great portion of this whole is what is known as "dead line" very lightly held by both sides. It is no vain- glorious boast and in no way disparages the truly colossal and mag- nificent achievement of the glorious French army to say that for many months past the British army has opposed the bulk of the German forces. At the present time, it is estimated by the most competent authorities that Germany has in the field 4,500,000 soldiers with 1,000,- 000 in depot and 500,000 in lines of communication. Not more than a million, German, Austrian and Turks together, are employed on the 13 Eastern front and less than 100,000 of these are Germans. The rest of their forces have been available for defence at any point on the West- ern Front that may be threatened. A very brief glance at the history of the fighting will show when and where these forces have been con- centrated, and no small percentage of the critical points will be found to have been on the British Fronts. Moreover, remember that the British Army has from the first been at the disposition of the French Generalissimo, who has placed it where he needed it most. We have seen that the greater part of the British losses in the early part of the war were chiefly due, not to the smallness of her army, which fought as a British Army always does, with the extreme of gallantry and self-devotion, but to the lack of artillery and munitions without which the bravest troops must charge in vain an enemy over- whelmingly supplied with these imperative necessities. Trench war- fare to-day is siege warfare, the storming of fortifications of hitherto unprecedented strength ; thus it was that during the retreat from Mons and the subsequent advance to the Marne, the Aisne and to the line from the sea to Arras, particularly in such actions as the first battle of Ypres, and that at Neuve Chapelle our losses were so appall- ing. We simply had not the weapons with which to destroy the enemy's emplacements, but had to take them by coup-de-main, sheer impact of gallant flesh and blood to shell and machine gun fire, facing which, barbed wire entanglements had to be cut by hand at an inconceivable cost in lives. In May, 191 5, when the Germans were producing 250,000 shells a day, most of them high explosive, we could only produce a total of 2,500 high explosive and 13,000 shrapnel. It should not be forgotten that the basis on which this war is being fought — trench fighting, Vv'hich under the new conditions is besieging strong fortresses — was totally unprecedented and its needs could not possibly have been for- seen by anyone. Until July ist, 1916, the Germans had the superior- ity. The battle of the Somme, which lasted from Jtily ist to the middle of November, gave it to the Allies. We have now more men, more guns, and more ammunition than they and the British output of shells alone exceeds the German maximum, which cannot be increased v/hile Great Britain's is increasing daily. This astounding result has been achieved by the united efforts of the entire nation. In 1914 Great Britain had three national arsenals. She now has over one hundred, all working day and night. In addition to these she has four thousand five hundred and eighty-five Govern- ment controlled factories, all producing supplies and munitions of war. Over three million men and one million women are at work in these industries alone. October 2, 1917, the Board of Trade reports that 14 there are 4,538,000 women employed in the trades under its control. This does not include women employed in small workshops, or on the land, and of course not domestic servants, or the noble army of nurses and V. A. D. Taking- the annual output of guns before the war as 100 in each case, we are now turning them out at the rate of : — Heavy guns 1,089 per annum Medium guns, 6-in 3,600 " " Howitzers, 4-5-in. 654 " " Quick-firing 18 pounders 135 " " Machine guns 2,710 " " So with shells of all sizes, we are making to-day five hundred and seventy-five times as many shells in a week as we were in May, 191 5, when the Ministry of Munitions was established, the major part of them being of the heaviest and most needed type ; and all these are being made in the British Isles and do not include what we have bought from the United States. Housing, clothing and equipment of all sorts had to be provided for the huge numbers of men who flocked to the Colours. There was nearly a year and a half of what the War Office succintly calls the "Tatterdemalion Stage." Seventeen breathless months of strain and stress, wherein, with blood and tears the nation paid for its unpreparedness, and the thin line in France, imperfectly equipped, struggled desperately to hold back the oncoming avalanche ; but they did it, we have just seen how, and by January, 1916, the deficiencies were made good and we were even manufacturing for our Allies. It was the same story with the training. On August I2th-i3th, 1914, nearly every man in the British Army who knew his job, from officers commanding, down to the cooks, departed overseas, and hardly a nucleus of experts was left to train the new armies. By what super-human efforts their places were filled would make a fasci- nating story but it is too long to tell here ; suffice it to say that during the first five months of the war, most of the subalterns of the line in the new armies had to train themselves, in the intervals of training their men ; is it to be wondered that they paid the price with their lives? Untrained, leading untrained men, unsupported by the guns, shells and many protective devices that have since been developed as defensive against the various and hitherto undreamed of devilish wea- pons of a barbarous enemy, they never hesitated a moment to count the cost but came to the call of their threatened Motherland from the farthest borders of her Empire and laid down their lives for her with- out faltering. And as they were, so were their men. Never again raise the lie that they or the race that bred them are slackers and are skulking behind their Allies in the greatest war for freedom the world has ever waged. j_ \-n « -rrJrv O -cs In o <> *« °-S ri-p ^HS O O O I- IS.? SUiMMARY No. i HOME WORK. ARMY. A. C. I. Volunteering'. I. Volunteering. 2. Munitions. 2. German Army. 3- Women. 3- Shells. 4- Boy Scouts. 4- Aeroplane Losses — 1917. 5- Y. M. C. A. 5- 6. 7- Ground Recovered by Allies. NAVY WORK. Percentage of Killed. German Territory Held B. by British. I. Navy. 8. German Prisoners. 2. Tonnage-Shipping. 9- Proportion of Troops- 3- Carriage. United Kingdom and Do 4- Imports. D. minions. WHAT THE QUAKERS HAVE DONE. 5- E. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. What America Thinks of of the Chances of Victory. What Neutrals Think of the Chances of Victory. What England Has Done for France Alone. What the Britisher Pays Towards the Cost of the War. Bonmots. 17 A. Home Work VOLUNTEERING IN GREAT BRITAIN. Aug. 8, 1914. Lord Kitchener called for one hundred thousand men. He got them in two weeks. From Sept. 2 to 8 — the fifth week of the war two hundred and fifty thousand men volunteered. Thirty thousand in one day. By September 30. One million men had volunteered and were in the army. July, 191 5. Two million volun- teers. December, 191 5. Four million two hundred and fifty thousand men had enrolled. Feb. 10, 1916. came into force. r onscription May 2. Over five million men had enlisted in twenty-one months since beginning of the war, only three-quarters of a million of whom had not volunteered. Those who were too old for ser- vice formed themselves into Vol- unteer "Old Boy Brigades" two hundred and fifty thousand strong, armed, clothed, and equipped at their own expense for home de- fence. MUNITIONS. In the Fall of 1915: Germany was making and using 250,000 shells per day. Great Britain was making and using 50,000 shells per day. Now Great Britain exceeds Ger- many's maximum output, which cannot be increased, while Great Britain's increases daily. Gen. Sir Wm. Roberston re- cently said that 200,000 tons of ammunition were used by Great Britain, in France alone, in five or six weeks, and she had a reserve of over fifty millions of shells. Before the war Great Britain had three National Arsenals. Now she has over Ninety, working day and night and four thousand five hundred and eight-five Govern- ment controlled factories. The British arsenals in 1917, put out in a single day as many heavy Howitzer shells as they produced in the whole of the first year of the war. In three days as many guns and as much high explosive as the total output of the first year of the war. 19 A. Home Work In 1917, the new national pro- jectile factories had a total length of fifteen miles ; as far as from City Hall, New York, to Yonkers or Mount Vernon, and a width of forty feet ; 10,000 machine tools in them; 17 miles of shafting driven by 25,000 horsepower of energy. Weekly output of pro- jectiles, 10,000 tons. the war is considerably over five millions. WHAT THE WOMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN ARE DOING. In 1914, there were fewer than 200,000 women workers. In 1917, there are 800,000 making muni- tions; over 200,000 in engineer- ing, chemical, and metal works ; over 100,0000 in agricultural work. Hundreds of others employed on railroads, street cars, cabs,busses, and in banks and offices, etc. A recent Board of Trade report shows that there are now 4,538,000 women and girls employed in classified trades under its jurisdic- tion. This does not include women employed in small work- shops, nor on the land; and of course not domestic servants. Neither does it count in the noble army of Naval, Military, Red Cross and other nurses and hos- pital helpers. It is certain that the total num- ber of British women workers in BOY SCOUTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 30,000 enrolled in 1914. Im- mediately on outbreak of war, 900 went on coast-guard patrol. In 1916, 1900 are doing this duty. Over 50,000 are employed at the War Office, Admiralty and on other work. 15,000 have joined the Colours. YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N MAINTAINS 1000 huts or hostels in Great Britain, 150 in France and Fland- ers, others in Egypt, Mesopota- mia, Salonica, etc. Between 5000 and 6000 men slept in these in one week in May last. The Salvation and Church Armies are doing similar work. YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRIST- IAN ASS'N PROVIDES Meals for workers in munition and other factories at the rate of 58,000 a week. 21 B. Navy Work THE BRITISH NAVY 1914 140,000 men 1917 400,000 men "The tonnage of the Navy has increased by well over one mil- lion tons since war began." — Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, Sept.. 1916. TONNAGE-SHIPPING. Ocean going vessels before war : 17,000,000 to 18,000,000 tons, now 15,000,000 tons; of which 14,000,000 tons are employed in home service ; of these, 6,500,000 tons are in Government service ; 1,000,000 more tons are used for Government service on outward voyages, but available for import trade returning. Since October, 1916, the Gov- ernment took control of all British shipping except the few ships al- ready chartered by British Colon- ies, France or Italy. The men have cheerfully sailed despite all the great risks. CARRIAGE. Oct. 30, 1916, Sir E. Carson in House of Commons. 8,000,000 men have been carried across seas. Over 1,000,000 sick and wounded. 420,000 tons of supplies and explosives. Over 1,000,000 horses and mules. 47,- 504,000 gallons of petrol. Over 25,000 ships searched for contra- band of war. IMPORTS. Before the war imports into the British Isles were about 58,000,- 000 tons per annum, of which food stuffs were about 15,500,000 tons. In 1916, imports were about 43,- 000,000 of which food stuffs, mu- nitions and material for their manufacture were about 14,333,- 000 tons. 1913- Foodstuffs 14,000,000 tons Raw Material Manuf. Goods 44,000,000 tons 58,000,000 tons 1916. Foodstuffs 15,000,000 tons Raw Material 15,000,000 tons Manuf. goods 13,000,000 tons 43,000,000 tons What our Fleets are doing de- spite the submarines. The ex- ports and imports of merchandise in the port of New York for the year ending: June 30, 191 7 were $8,900,000,000 1916 $6,531,000,000 191 5 $4,443,000,000 1914 $4,259,000,000 23 C. Army VOLUNTEERING IN GREAT BRITAIN. Aug. 8, 1914. Lord Kitchener called for one hundred thousand. He got them in two weeks. Sept. 2-8, 1914. The fifth week of the war. Two hundred and fifty thousand men volunteered. Thirty thousand in one day. By Sept. 30. One million men had volunteered and were in the army. By July, 191 5. Two million volunteers. By Dec, 1915. Four million, two hundred and fifty thousand men had enrolled. Feb. 10, 1916. Modified con- scription came into force. May 2, 1916. Over five million men had enlisted in twenty-one months since the beginning of the war, only three-quarters of a mil- lion of whom had not volunteered. These figures are for Great Britain alone, and do not include the magnificent eflrorts of the Do- minions and Colonies. Those who were too old for ser- vice, formed themselves into Vol- unteer "Old Boy's Brigade." two hundred and fifty thousand strong armed, clothed, and equipped at their own expense for home de- fence. GERMANY ARMY. AT THE BEGINNING OF 1917. Germany had on all fronts - - 4,500,000 men In Reserve Depots 1,000,000 men On Communicat'ns 500,000 men Total 6,000,000 men Germany's casualties in first half of 1917, 1,340,000. SHELLS. In the Fall of 191 5: Germany was making and using 250,000 shells per day. Great Britain was making and using 50,000 per day. Now Great Britain exceeds Ger- many's maximum output, which cannot be increased, while Great Britain's increases daily. General Sir Wm. Robertson said that 200,000 tons of ammuni- tion were used by Great Britain, in France alone, in five or six weeks and she had a reserve of over fifty millions of shells. 25 ■S5'-" C. Army AEROPLANE LOSSES— 1917. February ; 89 — of which 60 were Germans. April; 717 — of which 369 were Germans. 269 of these were brought down by British with a loss of 147. GROUND RECOVERED BY ALLIES. Since Sept. 5, 1914, when the German advance was checked at the gates of Paris, the Allies have recovered approximately eight thousand five hundred square miles of French and Belgian ter- ritory. This was before recent gains. PERCENTAGE OF KILLED. hundred recover to fight again. The British permanent losses- killed or permanently removed from the fighting lines in the first three years of the war are about one million. Germany's permanent losses in the same time are four millions. GERMAN TERRITORY HELD BY BRITISH. At the present time Germany holds NO BRITISH TERRI- TORY while Britain holds A MILLION SQUARE MILES of German Colonies. GERMAN PRISONERS. Of 20 men who go to the front, 19 return. Only one in twenty Britain has four German pris- killed. oners to one Briton held by Ger- From 90 to 95 per cent of the many. 27 C. Army * Foreign Office, Sept. 7, 1917. the United Kingdom, mostly the The male white population of original Expeditionary Force of the Dominions as compared with the old Regular Army, which was the British Isles is one to three, all but entirely wiped out. The proportion of troops in the The reserves now in the United actual theatres of war is between Kingdom include men under five and six from the United King- training, trained men in reserve dom to one from the Dominions, to provide drafts for the British For the first eight months of armies in five theatres of war, the war, August 23rd, 1914, to sick and wounded, and the train- April, 191 5, no troops from the ing staffs labour and administra- Dominions were engaged on the trative units, who must remain at Western front. The retreat from the main base. Mons, the recovery of the lines of These do not reckon the troops the Aisne, and subsequently from garrisoning India and the other Dixmude to La Bassee, was en- outposts of the Empire through- tircly conducted by troops from out the world. Divisions engaged Casualties per division Battles of U. K. Dominions U. K. Dominions Somme 5^54 Arras 3>4 17 6 Ypres III 7 I 5 I Messines Ridge 2 i ii 13 D. What the Quakers have Done IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MARNE RUINED BY THE GERMANS IN THE RETREAT OF 1914. By June, 1915, 150 British Quak- ers had rebuilt more than 400 houses, and rehoused more than 700 people. Provided ploughs and other agricultural tools, seeds and even poultry and cattle. This work goes steadily on in France. 29 \ E. Miscellaneous Information WHAT AMERICA THINKS OF THE CHANCES OF VIC- TORY: Up to the end of March, 1917, she had lent Germany $20,000,000 ; the Allies $2,381,867,000 of which Great Britain had $1,131,400,000. Since the U. S. came into the war, April 4th, 1917, she has lent —Germany nothing- — The Allies $7,000,000,000. WHAT NEUTRALS THINK OF THE CHANCES OF VICTORY. In Amsterdam which is about central between London and Ber- lin in April, 1917, the pound (English) was discounted 3% ; the mark (German) was discounted 37/2%. WHAT ENGLAND HAS DONE FOR FRANCE ALONE. Britain was bound by no treaty ; she had agreed only to keep the seas and furnish a hundred thous- and men. She furnished two mil- Ion men and doubled her fleet. M. HENRI FRANKLIN BOULLION, President of the French Radical Party, on Lafay- ette Day, 1917, in New York. WHAT THE BRITISHER PAYS TOWARDS THE COST OF THE WAR. The Britisher with an income of $2500 per annum contributes to the cost of the war about : $1000 per annum. $ 255 of this Income Tax. The daily cost of the war to the British is over $35,000,000. Great Britain has been financ- ing herself and her Allies. The daily cost of the war to Great Britain is now $35,250,000. BONMOTS. BISMARCK SAID: "America is a fine fat hog, and when we're ready we'll stick it." KAISER WILHELM II. SAID TO AMBASSADOR GERARD: "I shall stand no nonsense from America after the war." THE REAL DANGER IS THE KAISER'S POWER TO SAY TO TWELVE MILLION SOL- DIERS: "GO OUT AND CONQUER FOR ME." NO NATION. IS SAFE IF THE KAISER WINS. If the Allies do not WIN the war, they have lost it. If Germany does not LOSE the war, she has won it. PAUL LENSCH In the Reichstag. 31 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS