Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1916-12-11
LLOYD GEORGE COMES TO LATE
no STEM THE TIDE OF
GERMAN TRIUMPH.


One Of the many British Hyphens
that occupy the editorial chairs in
quite a number Of American news
paper Offices pays a glowing tribute
to Lloyd George, the little Welsh
lawyer, and remarks that England
turned to him in her darkest hour.
The British Hyphen in question is
sorely mistaken when he regards
this as the darkest hour of England's
history Darker and more dreary
days are in store for England. A
second Gallipoli, more damaging to
England's prestige than the first
one is developing in Greece. The
day on which the Entente must leave
6alonik under the pressure Of
Greece and her future allies, the Cen
! trail powers, will be darker than the
/ day of the present crisis. But the
darkest OF all days for England will
be the day OF the final reckoning,
the day of peace.
Lloyd George, no matter how
strong and resourceful he is, Is not
strong enough to turn the tide. No
man is.
There are. in facts. two crises,
for the crisis in the ministry is but
d reflection OF the crisis OF the war.
The crisis in the war amounts to
this. That the progress OF events
and succession of bitter experiences
have at last brought home to the
minds OF most men the fact that we
are not winning the war. and the
further conviction that with the
| present methods Of waging the war
we shall never win it.
4 H.. Il
sober-mlnded Manchester Guardian,
the leading English provincial
! newspaper. express itself yeterday
cditorially on Great Britain's milf
tary situation
More might have been said. For
| instance, the question might have
| been asked in view OF what advant-
ages have been thrown to the winds
and what the present situation
actually is, whether il is not too late
| for any methods which can now be
adopted to recoup these lost advant-
ages OF to retrieve the compromised
situation.
The London John Bull" Bottom
| ley's organ, in q recent number,
prints letter from member of
Parliament, which so completely
! confirms the views concerning the
effect that Germany's submarine
campaign Is having on GrcatBritain's
sea supremacy, which have been ex-
pressed in these colums that it is
impossible to resist the temptation
to quote the material parts thereof
1t says:
THE feet we must bear in mind.
| Ir Asquith continues as premier for
one more year the Germans and not
we will dictate the peace terms. At
the present rate Of loss in ships it
will not be long before England will
be incapacitated TO serve as the chief
| support of the Allies. The Germans
know this and are Fastening in maxi
ing gigantic efforts TO paralyze our
shipping
Our losses arc multiplying at a
! terrific pace and catastrophe is un-
ayoidable unless we, regardless Of
neutrals, arm our merchantmen.
Everything 10 at stake, the fate of
Egypt, where one and n quarter mil
lion men must be fed"
1t really matters little who shall
be at the head of the new British
government The only question for
Great Britain to consider is how TO
extract itself as gracefully as circum-
stances permit from the mess in
which il finds itself today. The
chances for doing so seem to be
rather slim, for we cannot believe
that Germany intends to let John
Bull set away with a broken finger.
Sly old John will have to give 1t
least some Of his heartblood before
he again will be able to sit down on
his easy chair. He will have to eat
of the mantle piece for long time
to come.
The question for John Bull is to
decide whether the war as II stands
today Is still a good business propo-
sition which he imagined II would be
when he entered the war-contract
with the other allies. In view OF the
words said in England in the last
few days we must believe that John
Bull no longer regards the war as
any SOFT OF a business proposition
unless losing one. He entered
the war with the freely admitted
purpose Of Kidding himself Of the
Ucrmam competitor. To destroy his
and everybody elses business was
his only reason for entering the wal
and today nobody but the dear ole
ladies 81 the Anglo-American press
y pretend to believe that the British
went to war for the sake of Poo
little Belgium" But, instead Of des
troYng the German competitor Eng
land is about to be destroyed her
self, for 1t Is the now rapidly dwindl
ing British merchant fleet that con
stitutes the main powerof British
commercial supremacy. While th'
losses Of ships for Germany az
hardly worth mentioning the Brit
ish losses are admittedly enormous
they are, in fact, 50 great, that Eng
land already today suffers mor'
keenly under the shortage of brea'
than Germany ever did.
The German competitor with near
" all ships in safe harbors will ente
the commercial war after the mill
tary war with flying colors, NOR
terrible than ever to those who envie
his business successes before the wa
and therefore seeked in vain to de
stroy him. And the old proverb vii