Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-06-08
HEAVY LOSSES
DUE TO SHORTAGE
OF AMMUNITION
British Casualty Lists SwelIed
Enormously on Account Of
insufficient Means of Com
batting the Enemy,

London. May t0.---Thc following
speech y Captain Jersey De Nnoop
OF the Cheshire Yeomanry cmphasiz-
ing the thousands OF casualties In the
British forces caused directly by
shortage of ammunition. was PUBLISH
ed In the Manchester Guardian, but
the press bureau censors refused per-
/ mission 90 certain of the London
newspapers TO reproduce II.
Captain De knoop Is well known
provincial political leader and the
probable candidate of the unionlst
party for the next vacant seat IN the
house o. commons lie rs at present
home from the front. recovering from
two severe wounds. The speech was
delivered at the annual meeting OF
the Northwich Unlonist association.
I'VE are lust about approaching the
| crisis of the war" said Captain De
Knoop. "and Il depends upon the be-
havior Of the people OF the country
whether the war Is to drag on into
the years.
MANY things have conduced To the
tone of opinion now prevalent amons
a large section. Before the war
many believed there could be no such
thing as war and that II was stupid
to spend money on war munitions.
This led people into comfortable
frame Of mind, and they can scarcely
be blamed for not even yet realizing
the state Of affairs. But they must
be told
Thousands of Lives Jcopardiscd.
~ arrived from the front on Mon
day There was nothing in London
To suggest that | had Just left, only
sixty miles away, llfe-and-death
struggle. Any number Of young un-
married men were meandering about
the streets and they certainly did not
seem to be detained ~ business or Vi
tai importance. In the country dis
trlcts the only indication Of war was
The notice IN the railway carriages 10
power Those who talk about ia not
generally dlsregarded.
"But the people must be made TO
realize the position. for every min
ute's delay Is ieopardizlng thousands
OF lives.
II was sent on the wild-good chase
of trying to relieve Antwerp. Then my
command Joined up with the main
army which hung Oh simply by the
cyelids and kept the Germans from
breaking through TO Calais Thous-
ands were killed, largely through the
lack Of ammunition ON our side, The
men were kept in the trenches day
after day night after night, simply
because there was nobody To relieve
them. They hung on and foueht as
| well as Brtons ever fought since the
world began They fought and they
i died for want of forethought
I'VE In this country have got to see
TO II that no more are thus sacri-
feed.
Then we were told that ammuni-
tion was coming along and, that All
would he wen. But we have seen In
the papers how the brilliant infantry
attack north Of La Rassee was stop
ped and thousands of casualties in
Cured owing to lack Of ammunition,
Too Tired 10 Move.
ION the LAY ] was hit we were re-
Loving men IN the trenches who were
SO dog-tred that they could scarcely
move. At o'clock In the morning
the Smelling by the Germans began.
had seen a certain amount of she'll
ing before that, but everybody agreed
with me that there had never been
anything like this in the history or
warfare Ten, twelve, fifteen shells
at time were bursting up and down
the line. our gunners could do prac-
this was that we had had to recruit
in hurry and had taken mechanics
who ought to have remained behind to
make shells As long as we have the
voluntary system we can not really
organize labor Contrast our posi-
ton with that of the French. who
quickly realized the likelihood OF a
shortage Of shells and Immediately
sent back the mechanics. II Is owing
to the French .75 guns that the
French army has done SO we'll
"At the front we read in the British |
newspapers Of workmen at home go- !
ing on strike for another half-penny |
an hour. or because they are asked To I
do bit Of extra work. What would /
happen If battalion refused to go /
into trench because they had only /
had a day off after doing forty-eight /
hoursg What would happen to tho /
empire If there We're such spirit at
the front?
Strikes IncXcusablc.
"The men In the trenches look upon
these fellows Mt home as stark, star
ing mad. Strikes ought to be abso-
lutely mhcard OF
1T is q long lane before we reach
the turning, and a thorny path that
we have 10 tread in the meantime. /
But people at home must see to 1t
that more munitions are turned out. Il
Lord Kitchener must have his 100000
men today rather than tomorrow.
I'VE must win, but we have got to
break down machine which has
been preparing for forty-five years 1
We must let the French know that
this country is going to fight with the
whole and not with "A quarter of It's
mower Those who talk about Its not
mattering whether they live under the
German emperor or the British king L
should see the terrible sights ] have
seen Only striu of water gepar- /