The Topeka state journal., 1916-12-27
WAR BLUNDERS
GOOD LESSONS
FOR JOHN BULL
British Take Advantage of
Them and Plug Along.
Efforts of Year Crowned by
Naming LlOyd-GeOrge.
MUNITI0M GROWTH A MIRACLE
Half a Million Women Making
Shells Tor British.
Govt Control of Rail, Ships and
Food, Big Steps.
Efforts of Year Crowned by
Naming LlOyd-GeOrge.
MUNITION GROWTH A MIRACLE
Rv ED l.. KEEN.

- London, Dec. 27.-John Bull spent
goodly portion of this year applying
the lessons he learned last year.
The mistakes of 1915 were rather
distressing at the time. but they
proved excellent teachers. Being a
backward pupil. as always, John Bull
had to be driven. and the process was
necessarily painful
From the Dardanelles to Mesopota-
mia. from Neuve Chappelle to Loos,
from Sofia to Athens. he blundered
along, but. as subsequent history has
demonstrated. all the time acquiring
merit. out of every strategic failure,
every unfulfilled expectation, both mill
itary and political, he managed to
learn something-and the lessons
stuck.
First of all the lesson of centralized
power in the direction of war. of inter-
nal government. of domestic economy
and of efficiency. thoroughly learned,
led him to put the man who above all
others has done most for England
David LLOYD George-into practical
dictatorship over all these branches of
British activity
Asquith Cabinet Muddle.
The Asquith cabinet. with its mud
ding along" fell because British pub
lie opinion, almost solidly aligned be
hind the little Welshman" demanded
supreme efficiency in England's flght
for life 1t was characteristic of Lloyd
George, the breaker of precedent. that
he should sweep away nearly all the
old ministerial machinery and SUD
etitute for the loosely knit, slow NOV
ing. over-officered cabinet small,
compact war council of five members
and take this step with the eager ac-
otrescence of John Bull. And john
Bull. who usually has to be driven, ana
who usually hates new-fangled thlhss'
showed the transformation in his
character which the war has wrought
by standing behind LLOYD George.
By reason of his early unsuccessful
adventures in the Near East he gath
cred invaluable knowledge in the mat
ter of organization and equipment
which he has this year applied IN other
quarters. AS a result of the failure
of his troops in the west in the spring
and fall of 1915 to attain their desired
objective he made certain changes IN
personnel. vastly improved his organ
ization behind the lines, and above all
learned that the only way seriously to
dent the German front was with a
preponderating supply of shot and
shell.
Z. Rumania's Doubtful Asset.
In the field of diplomacy wherein
the Germans at first cut circles all
around him he is steadily improving
He lost Bulgaria to the allied cause,
but the experience he acquired in that
process enabled him to gather in Ru-
mania Just now, by the fortune OF
war. Rumania appears to be doubt
full military asset, if not a liability; but
at the time unquestionably the enlist
ment of this country with the allies
was a diplomatic stroke of first i'm
portance.
IT was entirely characteristic o1
John that altho he knew Fritz had q
forty years start of him in this mill
tary game he ignored Fritzs methods
until they were forced upon him. But
now. thanks to the hard knocks OF
1915, there is very little more that
Fritz can teach him.
Early in 1916 he adopted conscrip-
tion. Had it been introduced a veal
before the war might have been ovel
today. Englishmen have responded
IN unprecedented fashion to their kine
and country's call under the voluntary
system, but it was only the certainty
of ultimate conscription that finally
brought the enrolment up to five mil
lion men. The molding of this huge
hump of human raw material into al
efficient military machine has been
gigantic task. but it's proper equipmen
has been a greater.
Munition Growth Miracle.
Little less than miraculous has beer
the development of the munitions in
dustry in this country during the las