The evening world., 1917-02-22
j BOATS DON'T STOP
FRENCH SHIPPING,
ASSERTS ADMIRAL
Same Number Of Vessels Ar
irving Since Blockade Be-
gan, Lacaze'S Assertion.
TEST OF ENDURANCE.
"Germany's Pinch Not to BE
Compared With Any En-
tente Experiences"

l'NllFs lfb. EE.-lf Germany ~
building up hopes that her new sub
marine blockade will cut of the Allies
supplies. decrease their military
strength and thus end the war these
hopes are misplaced. The blockade
will never succeed"
Admiral Lacaze, Frances Minister
OF Marine, gave this reply to-day
when asked FOR a message 10 America
on now France Views the German
submarine war.
1T was German thickness that in
augurated commercial submarines
ostenslbly 20 carry merchandise, but
In reality 20 supply war submarinrs
on the open sea" tho Admiral de-
clared. 1T Ia impossible for me 10
see how competent German officials
believe their now move--which is said
TO be aimed principally at France and
! ltaly-can achieve the hoped for re-
suits. on the whole. It cannot change
conditions much from the past
"lf the German people are looking 20
the submarines for peace let them take
cOgnizance OF the fact that since the
beginning Of tho blockade on Feb. I
about the Same number OF French
mercantile ships have been arriving
at our ports as before. The total
was more than n hundred daily That
! figure Is immutablc.
~ do not believe conditions will
change much from 1916. when the
average OF French imports doubled
from 100000 to 100000 tons
monthly.
Also. since the beginning OF the
war we have doubled our seaboard
! imports. The blockade may reduce
the present figure somewhat. but 1t
is materially impossible for the Ger
mans TO abolish these imports.
Take the two main French i'm.
ports-coal and hour. The enemy
has been able TO sink only little
over half OF I per cent.--.0053 Is the
exact fgure--of tho general average
on coal. while the nour loss Is less
than I por cent. This four loss does
not equal the amount the French
baker normally wastes.
This II the third time the Ger
mans have announced mcrciloss sub
marine warfare. Twice climaxes Of
violence were briefly reached-then
| they subsidCd. The losses OF worlds
| tonnage In the past have never been
such az to bring about critical con-
dition as far as the allies supplies
are concerned.
Even suppose that the German
submarines destroy more than for
morly, the situation simply resolves
Itself into the question as to who Is
able to hold out tho longest. Ger
many. long immersed In economic
d fficultics, Is now deprived OF all sea
trade except that OF Scandinavia. The
Ententos margin. on the other hand.
Is still Of the widest.
The worst that can befall us is
moro rigid restrictions TO civilians.
Rest assured we'll keep all necessi-
ties. But this IN merely hypothetical
we haven't begun TO worry about
supplies"
The Admiral reiterated his disbc-
lief that tho protagonists Of ruthless
submarlnings were ever greatly op-
posed In German otiicialdonl.
My opinion H." he explained, that
nouncod for effect on neutrals. A
similar German thickness Is apparent
In the Inauguration OF commercial
submarines. Ostensibly they were TO
carry merchandise. In reality they
were built to supply war submarines
on the open seas.
In my opinion the real inward
psychological motive Of Germany's
new sea frightfulnoJs was based on
Germany's knowledge that II cannot
ba sure OF tho results AZ which II
aims through It's military power and
that therefore Germany IL attempt
ing 90 reduce tho Allied morale by a
last fnR Of brute strength, But that
same brute strength failed against
: French valor at Verdun, at tho
MRrne. on tho Somme and elsewhere.
I The longer tho war lasts tho more
, the Germans must realize that brute
strength Is worthless. IL you ask
, who viii be victorious in this war,
my answer is 1t viii be the party hav-
ing the viii and morale 90 hold on
> from month TO month, from day to
day, from hour TO hour
"Germuny h now feeling pinch
which Is not to be compared with any
experienced by the Entente"
Admiral IA,cazc would not reveal
the means by which the French navy
Is combating the submarine cam
paign. but his air OF confidence was
SUFFICIENT 20 indicate complete sue
cess OF those defensive measures,