The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-18
ENGLISH LIVES ARE. WASTED PROD|GALLY S
 Thrown Away by Thousands
 by Lack of Ammunition 4GOUNTRY SUMMERS C9ptain De Knoop Save Tba+ Ja.+.l
COUNTRY SUMMERS
Captain De Knoop Says That Instead of British Artillery Dominating the Germans Contrary Is Case.
 Censor Suppresses Address

London July 4-(Correspondence of the Associated Press. .)-The following speech by Capt. Jersey De Knoop of tn. cheshire Yeomanry, emphasizing the thousands of casualties in the British forces caused direcly by shortage of ammunition, was published in the Man chester Guardian, but the press bu- reau censors refused permission to certain of the London newspapers to Reproduce it.
 Captain De Knoop is we'll known provincial political leader and the prob- able candidate of the unionist party for the next vacant seat in the House of Commons He is at present home from the front, recovering from two severe wounds. The speech was de- I livered at the annual meeting of the Norwich Unionst association.
 I've are just about approaching the crisis of the war" said Captain De Knoop, "and it 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 among a large section. Before the war, many believed there could be no such thing as war, and that 1t was stupid to spend money on war munitions This led people into a comfortable frame of mind, and they can scarcely be blamed for not even yet realizing the state of affairs. But they must be told
 Nothing in London Suggests War
 T arrived from the front on Mon day. There was nothing in London to suggest that l had just left, only 50 miles away, a life-and- death str,ly- gle. Any number of young unmarried men were meandering about the streets and they certainly did not seem to be detained by business of vital inn portance. In the country districts the a only indication of war was the notice Tn the railway carriages to draw down the blinds, and this was generally dis regarded.
 But the people must be made to realize the position, for every minutes delay Is Jeopardizing thousands of lives.
 T was sent on the wild goose chase . of trying to relieve Antwerp. Then my command joined up with the main army which hung on simply by the eyelids and kept the Germans from breaking through to Calais. Thousands were killed, largely through lack of
 
 kept in the trenches day after day, night after night. simply because there was nobody to relieve them. They hung on and fought as well as Britons ever fought since the world began. They fought and they died for want of fore thought.
 We in this country have got to see to 1t that no more are thus sacrificed. Then we were told that amlnuni- tion was coming along and that all would be we'll But we have seen in the papers how the brilliant Infantry attack north of La Bassee was stopped and thousands of casualties incurred owing to lack of ammunition.
 "On the day I was hit we were re- lieving men in the trenches who were so dog-tired that they could scarcely move. At o'clock in the morning the shel1ing by the Germans began. l had seen a certain amount of smelling before that, but everybody agreed with me that there had never been anything like this In the history of warfare Ten. 12, 15 shells at time were burst ing up and down the line. Our gun ners could do practically nothing. The reason of all 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 really organize labor Contrast our position with that of the French. who quickly realized the Likelihood of shortage of shells and immediately sent back the mechanics. It Is owing to the French .75 guns that the French army has done so well
 British Workmen Strike
 At the front we read in the British newspapers of workmen at home going on strike for another half-penny an hour, or because they are asked to do a bit of extra work. What would hap pen if a battalion refused to go into a trench because they had only had day off after doing 4s hours? What would happen to the empire if there were such spirit at the front?
 'The men in the trenches look upon these fellows at home as stark star ing mad. Strikes ought to be abso- lutely unheard of. "It Is a long lane before we reach the turning. and a thorny path tha. we have to tread in the meantime But people at home must see to 1t that more munitions are turned out. Lord Kitchener must have his 300,000 men today rather than tomorrow.
 We must win. but we have got to break down a machine which has Leen preparing for 45 years We must let the French know that this country is going to fight with the whole and not with quarter of its power. Those who talk about it's not mattering whether they live under the German Emperor or the British King should s~e xhe terrible sights have seen! Only a strip of water separates us from 1t"
 
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