The Washington herald., 1916-04-30
ENGLAND NOT DOING BEST
TO BRING WAR TO AN END

history according to whether or not he
has done so. .. ..-
Complete organization of the coun-
try's Industrial resources" Is a phrase
which sounds familiar. Did not this
take place year ago? How about Lloyd
George and the ministry for munitions?
l shall deal with this article with the
labor troubles in England that have at
least postponed the desired increase in
the output Of munitions to the proper
tionate figure reached in the other two
great Industrial countries Of Europe,
France and Germany. The army crisis
viii also be outlined as frankly as pos
sible; indeed the labor and recruiting
muddles are very closely related. ~
1t Is not possible to discuss in detail
the question of incompetence among the
generals and administrators holding the
highest positions in the empire, but a
slight knowledge of the English social
system will show any one where the
trouble lies here. An official Of the min
istry Of munitions told me, Three Of
my superiors in this department are Ok
ford men who can write Greek verses
but not one OF them knows the name of
a single part in a machine gun or in
any other sun, shell, rife cartridge or
other instrument Of war"
Munitions situation Better.
The munition situation is much bet
ter than it was last autumn, and an au-
thority thus sums up the case for the
government: In one branch Of explo-
sives alone, the production is thirty times
as great as it was at the end of May.
over a thousand factories are now con-
trolled establishments under the ministry
or munitions, and these employ little
short of a million workers. Many thou
sands of soldiers who before the war
were skilled mechanics have been re-
leased for munition work. The purchase
or supplies and men has been centralized
and organized, every machIne-tool fac
tory in the United Kingdom is under gov
ernment control and, in addition to the
twenty national shell factories, eleven
new government projectile works have
been esta blished."
So much for the governments position,
which is not weak one. 1t Is certain
that LLOYD George has done wonders,
and that If the figures regarding output
OF munitions could be published the coun-
try and the world would be astonished.
Unfortunately, 1t is also well known that
the French figures have never been ap-
preached here, and that the industrial
resources of France in peace time, before
one-third of her factories and most OF
her armies had been seized by the enemy,
we're less than those of Great Britain.
The very POOR showing England is MAX
ing relative to that of France has been
publicly admitted more than once, and
appears astonishing in confidential
figures I was recently permitted to in
spect. German industry, judging by the
volume of she'll fire on the battlefields
and by other Indications, must be ac-
compnshing even greater miracles than
that OF France, though definite statistics
regarding the achievement of the enemy
are naturally not available here. Such
statistics as we're gathered by an English
man who got out of Germany were sub
mitted to members of the government,
am told, and returned with three sep
arate comments. One statesman remark
ed. The government knows everything"
A second minister said The government
does not understand German" The
third comment was, This matter
seems extremely complicated" I
don't vouch for the story"
What is the matter with English labor?
I have talked to officials on the subject,
have also tried to get at the work.
mems side, which receives scant JUS
tice in the press, for under government
orders nothing regarding grievances OF
workmen, not even news OF strikes. is
permitted to be published
Made Human Machines.
In Germany and France. patriotism and
military discipline have turned the work
ing classes into human machines, who
are driven at the highest possible pres
sure with complete disregard for health.
Fourteen and sometimes sixteen hours a
day, seven days in the week, some OF
these French shell-workers toll. and I
have no doubt the situation in France is
no worse, or better, depending on the
point of view. than II is in Germany
The attitude of the Frenchmen toward
this is logical enough. 1T is true" said