The Washington herald., 1918-11-10
THE DEBT TO ENGLAND.
What She Has Done for Civilization
in This War Told by a Canadian.

England will fight on until the last
Hun is subdued and the Hohcnznl-
lerns have been overthrown. lis the
statement of f. d. l.. Smith, ediior
of the Toronto Daily News. recently
back from the war zone. Mr.. smith
maintains that England has aud Is
still bearing the biggest part of the
war burden. and that b'tt 70" The
Grand Fleet Germany wouii have
trtumphed in the first few months ard
have made secure the world domina-
uon which the Kaiser had dreamed
was TO be his.
After four ytars of a continuous
exhausting war he says, Great
Britain maintains in the field larg-
er army than that furnished by any
Of her allies. Anyone who visits the
Western front at the beginning of
the fifth year of the war must be
impressed with the extent to which
Northwestern France has become a
British country. English sentries
mount guard in the towns of Calais
and Boulogne and along the country
roads far to the south and east.
British troops are everywhere. Even
in Rouen and cities further south The
British khaki is more common :han
the blue of France. British a-rplanCs,
British ammunition dumps, British
transports, British hospitals line the
roads and occupy the fields of France
rom the coast clear through to a line
drawn north and south through Paris.
Not only this. British armies also
uphold the allied cause in half
score of other vital theatcrs of war
in siberia, in Mesopotamia, at B1ku,
on ha 81 he NJ a
River. in German East Africa, Al
bania, Palestine, Italy and Ss,or Xxi.
THE British people have borne pa
tiently. with unequaled determination,
the burden of two vast wars, the one
at sea and the other in many widely
separated theatres on land. Since the
beginning of the war l60 enemy sub
marines have been sunk. most OF
them by the British. One and half
million men are occupied today in
manning and maintaining the British
Navy and Merchant Marine. Britain
has lost 3,sl7,O00 tons of her precious
shipping. The other allies and neu-
trails have gained 1.20S,0o0 tons. She
cannot replace her tonnage sunk for
two reasons-she is using her man
power to the utmost. not for her own
interests, but in the common cause.
y
of the labor and machinery are re-
Quired for repair work done as much
for her allies as for herself. Yet in
four years by an almost supeThuman
effort she has increased the strength
OF her navy by 30 per cent. This means
that in spite of all other calls she
has, during four years of war strain.
constructed the second largest navy
in the world-that is, a new navy
larger than any other save her orig
inal fleet
Britain financed all her allies until
the United States came into the war
She has supplied France. Italy and
the United states, to say nothing of
Russia prior to the revolution, with a
great proportion of their guns, muni-
tions. rifles. uniforms and airplanes.
Besides supplying coal for her own
navy. merchant marine and industries
she has furnished Fyance and Italy
with much coal and great quantities
of foodstuffs from overseas. The
motherland has assumed an immense
war debt. but it is in her expenditure
OF lives that she has subjected herself
TO the most grievous losses. Upward
of 1000 COO British soldiers have given
their lives in the last four years. Last
year alone her list of casualties
dead. wounded and missing-aggre-
gated $4,000. Her donation of men to
the allied cause exceeds 100000 In
proportion to her population she has
given nearly three times as many
men as Canada. II Canada had done
as much it would have 10000 dead.
Even as it is. half of the men in the
Canadian army were born in Great
Britain. II the United States ever
equals Britain's contribution to date
the American Republic will have
nearly 100000 soldiers in khaki. and
nearly 100000 Americans will have
given their lives for the common
cause.-From the New York Times.