New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-10
Lloyd George-The New Man
and the Old Job

Premier is the most considerable that has
fallen to the lot Of any British statesman
since the days Of the younger Pitt, and 1t
is we'll to recall that the burden proved
TOO heavy for him.
Abroad the alliance 70 which Britain be
longs and in whose deliberations the new
Premier must play considerable role
has, on the military side, suffered dis
estrous defeat, while the internal crises
IN Britain, Russia, France and, less re-
Gently, in italy demonstrate the unrest
and apprehension Of the people Of these
nations.
In the relative failure Of the present
Entente coalition there is nothing new.
By comparison with the coalitions against
Louis XIV and Napoleon this latest great
alliance has been model Of concord. Yet
harmonious as have been the diplomatic
relations, the failure to coordinate military
operations has led to defeats recalling the
defeats that for so long halted the enemies
Of the Grand Monarch.
Many Of these failures have been in
evitable and the consequences of mistakes
and worse than mistakes that preceded the
war. Had Britain possessed that army Of
100000 men advocated by Lord Roberts
there would have been no opening series Of
disasters in the West and there might have
been no war. Had France been less the
victim of the pacifist policies Of her radical
republicans in earlier years mobilization
would not have found her masses in a
considerable measure lacking in arms and
equipment.
Like Louis XIV and Napoleon, William
III struck at the moment selected by him
and in the hour when his own preparations
were completed. His success fell far short
Of the Napoleonic parallel; he won no
Austerltz or Jena; on the contrary, he
was defeated at the Marine and permanent
~ checked in the West by the battles Of
Flanders.
1t was after the Allied victories in the
West that the real German success was
attained. 1t was the superior power Of ma
tional organization and discipline which
enabled the German General Staff to
escape from the consequences Of its own
defeat in the West and the Austrian dis
asters in the East and gain an ascendancy
which it has never wholly lost since and
has Just reasserted anew in Rumania.
The true failure Of the Entente has
been its inability TO organize national
resources immensely superior TO the
German, after the first rush of German
advance had been checked and repulsed.
A very large share Of this failure is trace
able TO the complete inability of Lloyd
Georges predecessors to recognize the
gravity Of the situation abroad and the
necessity for organization at home, The
very worst blunder of the Asquith govern
ment was a persistent belittling Of the
danger, which permitted the British people
TO continue for long months in optimistic
ignorance Of the facts in Europe and the
dangers overhanging Britain.
Lloyd George is fortunate in taking Of
fee at a time when the last doubt has been
removed from the minds Of the British
people, and a nation thoroughly conversanc
with the peril that threatens has taken
full measure OF its courage and its power.
The Britain that is rising out Of the con-
fusion, the failure and the heavy sacrifices
OF past months Is Britain new to this
century, new perhaps TO all centuries; for
it is hardly too much to say that this is
for the British people the first National
war. Indeed, it is more than this; it is
the first Imperial war, as the men Of Can
ada, Australia and South Africa have al
ready proven.
What the British must do is clear. The
burden that France has carried through
the past two years is beyond the resources
OF the brave republic 70 carry for another
two years. France, with a far smaller
population, he's lost three men to Britains
one; if the war Is TO be carried TO the only
conclusion that will leave Europe free, the
major part Of he labor In the West mus.
hereafter be performed by tie British.
Combined, the French and the British
possess far more soldiers than Tho Ger
mans, far greater resources in money and
in AL the open sea gives them. But unless
these resources can be applied, unless there
can be coordination in military command
and in economic effort, the advantage will
| = lost. 1t is true thai French and British
armies in the field are cooperating with far
greater success than two years ago, but
there is much still lacking in this respect
Even more costly has been the failure of
the Allies 10 employ their diplomacy in CO.
ordinated effort. Serbia has been sacri-
feed, Bulgaria permitted 10 mobilize and
attack, Greece has been lost and Rumania
10 a present victim, because the Allies were
unable TO grasp the Balkan problem as il
vas. The chief fault, we are told by Brit
ish and by Continental authorities alike,
las been that Of the British Foreign Office,
o. Viscount Grey. Contrast the fashion IN