Evening star., 1915-09-13
BRITISH EMPIRE FACES RUIN.
LLOYD GEORGES WARNING
Only By Putting Forth Utmost Efforts
Can 1t Be Saved, He Tells
Countrymen.
Countrymen.

LONDON, September 13.-That the
| central powers still have an over
| whelming superiority in all the mate
rial and equipment of war. and that
| the allies to win must put forth all
their strength. is the statement made
by David Lloyd George, minister of
| munitions. in the preface of a book
containing his speeches since the out
break of the war, entitled "Through h
Terror to Triumph
after twelve months of war. says
Mr.. Lloyd George. my conviction is
stronger than ever that this country
could not have kept out of it without
imperiling its security and its honor.
We could not have looked on cynically
with folded arms while country we
had given our word to protect was
being ravaged. trodden on by one of
our own co-trustees. If British women
and children were being brutally de-
stroyed on the high seas by German
submarines, this nation would have in
sisted on calling the infanticide en-
pire to a stern reckoning.
A Menace to Civilization.
Everything that has happened since
the declaration of war has clearly
demonstrated that a military system
so regardless of good faith, honorable
obligations and the elementary i'm
pulses of humanity constitutes a men
ace to civilization of the most sinister
character. and. despite the terrible cost
of SuppreSSing it, the well-beinE OF
humanity demands that such a system
should be challenged and destroyed. .
The fact that events also have
shown that the might of this military
clique has exceeded the gloomiest
prognosticati atoms provides an addition
al argument for it's destruction.
Nor have the untoward incidents of
the war weakened my faith in ultimate
victory. always provided that the ma
tions put forth the whole of their
strength ere it is too late. Anything
less must lead to defeat. The allied
countries have an overwhelming pre-
ponderance in the raw material that
goes to the equipment of arms, wheth
er in men. money or metal and ma
chinery. but this material has to be
mobilized and utilized.
Failures of First Year.
1T would be idle to pretend that the
first twelve months of the war have
seen this task accomplished satisfac-
torily. Had the allies realized in time
the full strength of their redoubtable
and resourceful foes; nay, what is
more. had they realized their own
strength and resources and taken
prompt action to organize them, today
we should have witnessed the triumph
ant spectacle of their guns pouring out
stream of shot and shell which would
have deluged the German trenches with
fire and scorched the German legions
back across the frontier
with the resources of Great Britain,
France and Russia, yes, of the whole
industrial world, at the disposal of the
overwhelming superiority in all the
material and equipment of war. The
result of this deplorable fact is exact
iy what might have been foreseen. The
iron heel of Germany has sunk deeper
than ever into Belgian and French soil
Poland is entirely German, and
Lithuania is rapidly following. Rus
sian fortresses deemed impregnab BILE
are falling like sand castles before the
ruthless tide of Teutonic invasion
stemmed: As soon as the allies are
supplied with an abundance of war ma
teriaL"
Seeks to Stir countrymen.
Mr.. Lloyd George says that he is re-
calling unpleasant facts to stir his
countrymen to put forth their strength
TO amend the situation. There has
neen great awakening, he says, and
prodlgious efforts are being made to
equip the armies, but, adds the min
lister, Nothing but our best can pull us
through He asks: care we strsinjna
every nerve to make up for lost tinea
Are we getting all the men we shall
want to put into the firing line next
year to enable us even to hold our own
Does every man who can help, whether
by fighting or providing material. un-
derstand clearly that ruin awaits re-
mission?
How many in this country fully an
prehend to its full significance the Rus
sian retreat? For over twelve months
Russia, despite deficiencies in eouin
ment. has absorbed the energies of half
the German and four-ffths of the Aus
TRAN forces. Is it realized that for the
tline Delng Russia has made her con-
tributQn to the struggle for European
freedom, and that we cannot for months
70 come expect the same active helm
from the Russian armies we have hith
erto received? Who is to take the Rus
sian place while those Russian armies
are re-equipping? Who is to bear the
weight which has hitherto fallen on
Russian shoulders?
France About at Limit.
France cannot be expected to sustain
much heavier burdens than those she
now bears with quiet courage, which
has astonished and moved the world
Italy is putting her strength into the
fight. There is only Britain left.
rs Britain prepared to fill I'D the
gap that will be created when Russi,
retires to the rear? Is she fully nre-
pared to cope with all the possibi1ities
of the next few months In the west.
answer will depend the liberties of En-.
rope for many generations
"A shrewd and sagacious observer
told me the other day that in his tudg
ment the course pursued by this cou,-