The Washington herald., 1916-07-09
Inactivity in France Imposed
by Jofre on Allied Troops
Until Novice Soldiers Are
Better Trained and Better
Munitioned.

German ships slipped past JeIlicoe and
gained the open sea. even by sacrificing
the rest of the fleet, the whole war might
! be lost in the months during which the
ra iders would cut all sea communications
| destroy isolated squadrons and upset
the allied plans. one and all conditioned
upon complete command of the sea.
All these things mean that the Ger
man fleet can come out at any time, cer-
| tain that IL will be able to deal at
first, with greatly inferior British forces.
| It is the task of those forces to fight on
TO the death to gain time for the grand
| fleet to come from its far-distant base
In the north, and no more desperate task
was ever set seamen than that which
| faces these admiTals whose forces are
tationed in the south. In the Germans
they have foemen worthy of their steel;
! but Il is unfair to measure the odds by
| looking at tables of British and German
! DreadnouGhts; the tasks which sea pow
| er impose upon the former so far to
! even the chances of an action in the
North Sea.
why do the British talk as though
providing their allies with money at in
terest were the same as providing men,"
Costing s25 1000 900 Day.
This war is costing Great Britain s25,-
600 900 a day, and of this sum s. SO go is
advanced to members of the entente.
The tax revenue OF the country. includ-
ing the new war taxes. barely makes
up the money that goes to the allies.
True it may be repaid some day, but
the financial exhaustion OF Europe after
the war will be such that many finanCiers
here think Great Britain Will never even
get the interest. The money advanced
by Pitt TO the countries which fought
Napoleon was regared as subsidy and
never repaid. and that precedent map
be followed in this case Premier Asquith
has never made clear to parliament the
conditions, if any. attached to these ad-
vances. Even IL the money is not re-
paid, however. critics may we'll say that
the sacrifice is not comparable to the
greater loss Of men suffered by Russia
and France.
The important point about the financial
situation which as a rule is overlooked
is this The entente without American.
neutral European and japanese supplies.
both OF food and munitions. could
hardly look for victory, and il is Britain
by her advances who maintains the credit
Of the entente and makes these pur-
chases possible. This credit cannot be
| maintained by signing promises to pay,
or producing gold, which is not held here
in quantity sufficient to pay the war bill
for a month. 1t cannot be maintained
excepting by keeping British industries
| running and exporting goods to pay for
| the munitions and food purchased
abroad and this business activity and
sea power have been Brttain's two main
contributions to the war, with her army
4 bad third.
To maintain industry takes men. Great
Britain has not only put more than
100000 soldiers under arms but she is
maintaining the credit Of herself and her
| partners by the labor of British men anG
women in the factories on goods intended
: for consumption abroad. A man who
makes for a New York society woman-G
Fsir of boots for her pet poodle. said
a manufacturer lis doing as much to win
| the war as though he were in the trench
es. He is keeping up Brits ms credit
abroad, without which all Of Us would
have gone down long ago,
| Are there then no real grievances
against Great Britain" YOU say. IF all
these charges are unfounded. how do
you explain the widespread feeling ali
! over the world that England is not doing
! her share?"
! The knowledge that Great Britain is
the most powerful OF the allies. and Il
! not suffering equally with France BelEt-
um and Russia. underlies all hostile cri-
ticism, in my opinion This is true
enough, but England cannot De blamed
for her fortunate isolation or for the
fact that her workmen who keep up the
credit are not killed like the Frenchmen
who defend Nerdun.
Some months ago I wrote thatI thought
Britain was not doing her best to win
the war, that, If she were consCription
would be enforced and Industrial mobili-
Iation and caste revolution take place.
Since then COnscription has become law
a much more drastic act than Lincoln en-
forced in b3 under which a man could
buy 4 substitute. Such proposal here
today would hardly muster a vote in
parliament.
Industrialy "a steady improvement has
been manifest for more than a year.
The caste revolution will be hardest of
all to bring about
In Prussia there is plenty OF caste. but
the men in high positions have brains
and here even in war time an utterly
incompetent. sometimes almost half-wit-
ted. sprig OF A good family can get a
war Job in which his incompetence may
manifest itself to the great advantage
Of Germany However. progress is be
ing made. The virtual head Of the Brit
ish army, Sir william Robertson. chief
Of the imperial general staff, was once
footman. and most encouraging talei
are told of the way he is routing tn.
blue hlooded good r-nothings out Of the
army commands and putting in their
places men who have proved their ability
in this war.
In the British navy. as in the Prus-
sian army caste has somehow been COM
bined with efficiency: but If an American
business man could see the inside of the
ministry of munitions. for example, with
its departments presided over bv mon
ocIed Oxfordlans who write charming
Greek verses and don't know a shell fuse
from a motorcycle, he would wonder how
their subordinates have been able to do
the amazing amount OF work that has
been done.