The Washington times., 1915-07-27
AS SEEN IN ENGLAND
By ED l.. KEEN.

BY ED l.. KEEN.
LONDON, July N.-After a year
at war. the British Empire has
somewhat less than three-quarters
Of a million troops in the field; its
allies have approximately ten mil
lion.
The British front in the western
theater Is about forty miles In
length; the lines Of the other allies
east and west, including Serbia and
Montenegro. cover some sixteen
hundred miles. As the ratio Of
troops employed is one to fourteen
and the ratio of mileage Is one to
forty. there appears to be some
justification for the complaints re-
Gently made-quite unofficially. Of
course-both In France and Russia
that England is not doing her share
Of the work.
England Is fulfilling her obligations
should be considered in the light Of
her promises. On this basis she
has delivered more than was speci-
ned In the contract. There were
two clauses In the secret agreement
made with France long before the
war started:
England would take care of the
seas.
She would send an expeditionary
force to France of 10000 men.
That's all there was to It, She
mas carried out the first clause to
the letter; she has sent nearly six
times as many men to the firing
line as she bargained for, and she
Is still sending them as fast as
they can be trained.
Only the other day, the Temps, Of
Paris. In AN obviously inspired edi-
toriai commenting on recent tributes
paid 10 France by the British press,
made these significant remarks:
Frankness should be mutual. II oil
me land the support of our British
allies Is stiil only limited. we must
not forget that on the seas 1t Is they
VINO have had much the heaviest
task. II at the beginning Of the war
we were able to complete the equip
ment OF our army with a rapidity
which was not one of the German
stans least surprises, We owe II to
the fleet which rendered us masters
OF the :. seas The Temps then ad-
the sea the British empire has
brought it's industrial and financial
resources. while its military effort
on 9drodan,l iand has really surpassed all
There probably always will be some
cinerence OF opinion as to whether 1t
was 3ri itish ralor or German blum
dering that saved Par.s in the early
days OF the war: Perhaps it was the
Britshers at least always will give
the lion share OF the credit to Field
Marshal French. his generals, and
his soldiers. But even If the saliva
~ pa III
British. there is no question that
they and they a lone saved Calais and
the other Channel ports. or course,
IN accomplishing this. England has
cone herself greater service than
| Since the failure Of the Paris at
tack. Germany's main effort has been
concentrated In the direction Of
| calais; and that Is the reason why.
endorsements. General French vii!
be unable to extend his front. The
fate of the British empire rests upon
the holding Of those forty miles.
All idea Of the big spring drive.
upon which the military writer's mad
fed the Imagination Of the British
public for months was abandoned
at SeEXe I'VE Chspelle: when at the cost
made a dent In the German line OF
highly fortified trenches. In what
was accompl: shed the Neuve Chapelle
offensive was In sense a victory; in
! what Il failed to do. IL was a defeat
for Lille was the objective and the
Germans are still! firmly planted in
Lille.
Then after the second battle Of
ipres. In which tho Germans first
battle OF La Bassee. This showed
the British public why the big
drive" %hS pr,,;.b hnd become ed Impossible
were to make joint advance
for three hours Of the German
trenches and the field OF wire en-
tanglement intervening. In that
time the French hred nearly
100000 high explosive protectiles;
hausted their suppl. Of 10000
high explosives and the rest
of the time used shrapncl
Result: The French infantry ad-
venced two miles into trenches
that had been practically cleared
ish lost 1900" men in attempting
to take trenches that hadn't been
cleared.
4 newspaperman witnessed this
; the medium Of the, London Times
t the reason why the British had
failed. starting the scandal that
I disrupted the British Liberal cab
| met, caused the formation or
/, coalition ministry. sheared Lord
Kitchener's wings, and created
, the new department OF munitions
) with Lloyd George at its head.
t Somebody had blundered. LORD
l Northcliffe's newspapers fastened
l responsibility on Kitchener. While
/ giving him due credit for his mag
nificent work in raising. org ganiz
8 ing. ana training the largest vol
4 unteer army the world has ever
e seen, they charged him with ne
I glecting the one thing upon which
= any possible hope of British sue
Z cess on land could be based-ar
t adequate supply of high explosive
shells.
t The one inexplicable incident l.
v Premier Asquiths statemen
e upon the highest possible author
ity" that neither Great Britain
t nor her allies had been hamperet
= by lack of munitions statemen
A directly cOntradicted by his recen
e frantic appeals to the workmcn
= England to mobilize for the sup
= ply Of munitions.