New-York tribune., 1918-08-08
Continued from page I

because Of an outrage on interna-
c'onal rights. Had she not taken this
decision the whole course of the war
would have been different He pictured
the part the navies have played in
the war, in the vast wildernesses of
the sea, with no one to witness or to
describe their operations, and said he
oid not think that many persons re-
a!lzed that if the Allies were defeated
on the water the war would be over
British Navy's Growth
When the war began said Mr..
Lloyd George, "the British navy, then
the largest in the world, represented
a tonnage Of two and half million.
Now, including the auxiliary feet, it
IS eight million. We're it not for this
increase the seas might be barred for
the commerce of the world. Every
trade route Of the world is patrolled
by its ships
The Premier then referred to the
otner activities of the navy, such as
conveying, patrolling, mine laying,
nine sweeping and the chasing of sub
marines. 1t was here that he said
stroyed, more than half of them in
the last year.
During June alone" the Premier
continued, British naval ships steamed
o,O0O,OOO miles. To this must be added
the efforts Of the mercantile marine,
which is now a branch of the British
navy, and whose men face the same
dangers, carrying for the Allies as we'll
as for themselves most of the Ameri-
can troops that have so valantly
acquitted themselves in recent com
bats.
100000 Men in Service
81 wonder how many people under
stand tn number of men required to
man and maintain the British navy
and mercantile marine There are at
least SOC, 600. probably 100000 or 9OO.-
ooO OF whom are OF military age. There
was an attempt to comb out some of
these men, but it was found impossi-
bic, for to do so would be letting down
the British fleet. and to let down the
British fleet is to let down the Allies,
Il wish to point the necessity of not
lmparing in the slightest degree the
efnclency, strength and growth of the
british navy and mercantile marine
Durlng the last two years Germany has
made two distinct attempts to force a
decision n-one on the land and one on
the sea. The land offensive might
have been disastrous, but the sea Of
fenslve, II 1t mad succeeded, would have
been final. If the submarines had sue
ceeded our armies in France would
have withered away. No Americans
could have come over to assist US and
the French troops. Ammunition could
not have been shipped. and we could
materials to enable France and Italy
to manufacture munitions.
British Fleet Largest
IF France, Italy and Great Britain
were threatened with starvation the
war would have been over before this
stage had been reached. do not wish
to nlnlmlze IN the !east the great as
slstance rendered by TIE American,
french, Italian and japanese fleets. but
the BRITISH fleet is so incomparably
greater and its operations are on a
scale of such greater magnitude that I
must digress especially upon this point
lts Importance and the immcnsitv of it's
eHorts IN the war should be realized.
ne American naval mission which
came over recently saw a great deal Of
the eHort OF the British navy and was
I'm NE nsely struck With the vastness of
the work which is being done. 1t was
especially anxious that steps be taken
to make known, not only here. but in
America he gigantic character of the
task we arc doing. '''e
British Controlled Sea
Unless the Allies had been COM
pletely triumphant at sea from the out
set OF the war, no effort on the land
could have saved them The British
fleet has been mainly responsible for
that complete triumph, which could not
have been secured and maintained with