New-York tribune., 1918-04-10

British armies. But We should be
guilty of great might be fatal error
j II we were to underestimate the
/ gravity of the prospect.
The enemy has captured valuable
ground, which is too near Amiens for
comfort or security. and he has sue
ceeded for the time being in Gripping
one of our great armies
~ Will now tell the House something
Of the measures adopted to meet the
emergency. have already explained
what was done about the French re-
serves. Tho Cabinet took every step
TO hurry up reinforcemcrts, in order to
MI up the gap IN our armies No such
large numbers Of men ever passed
across The Channel in so short time.
AS the emergency was great, it was i'm
/ possible 10 allow those who were sum
lnoned to France the usual leave to
Nlslt their relatives. 1t was with the
greatest regret that we found it nee
essary to cancel this permission, and
nothing but the gravity of the position
would have justified so harsh pro
ceeding. But the troops accepted the
position IN manner which is worthy
OF the forttude. courage and patriot
ISM they have shown throughout.
Reserves of Munitions
There was an understanding that
boys under nineteen years would be
used only in case of emergency We
felt that the emergency had arisen
and IN so far as those who were over
| eighteen were concerned those who
! had already received six months train.
ing. we felt it necessary that thev
/ should be sent to France.
CAS- to the guns and machine guns
which we're lost, the numbers arc
/ grossly exaggerated by the enemy. |
am assured that they have also exag-
gcratcd very cons iderably the number
commander IN chief assured me last
week that it was a gross eXaggeration.
II am very glad to be able to say
that the Ministry Of Munitions were
able not merely to replace those guns
and machine guns, but that they still
have very substantial reserve The
same thing applies TO ammunition.
There is an ample reserve Of ammuni-
tion both in this country and in France.
"Our aircraft strength is greater
now than before the battle. and we all
know what brilliant service our air
men rendered in this battle Until the
whole story of the battle is told il
viii be almost impossible to estimate
the services they rendered in retard
ing tho advance Of the enemy, in de-
stroyinG his machinery, and in making
it difficult for him to bring up his
guns and ammunition We feel conf
dent that our armies. generals and
soldiers will be cutie equal 20 the next
encounter. whenever it comes
The next step to which | should like
to call the attention of the House is
the material and dramatic assistance
rendered by Pres dent Wilson in this
cnergency-on of the most important
decisions in the war In fact, the issue
of the battle might very we'll be deter
mined by this decision.
In America there is a very consid-
cradle number of men in the course Of
training, and the Allies looked forward
TO having large American army in
France in the spring. It has taken
longer than anticipated to turn those
soldiers into the necessary divisional
organizations. If America waited to
complete these divisional organizations
1T would not be possible for these fine
troops IN any large numbers to take
part in this battle in this campaign
although 1t might be very we'll the de
cisve battle of the war.
This was. of course one of the most
serious disappointments from which the
Allies had suffered. 1t is no use pre-
tending that it was not one of oul
chief causes Of anxiety. We depenc
upon it largely to make up the defec-
ton of Russia. For many reasons
reasons, perhaps, Of transport, reasons
connected with the time it takes, not
merely TO train troops and their Off
GERS, but to complete the necessary or
ganization-lt was quite impossible tc
put into France the number of dvi-
sons every one had confidently expect
ed would be there. Under the circum-
stances we, therefore, submitted to the
President of the United States a def
mite proposal. We had the advantage
of having the Secretary of War in this
country within two or three davs after
the battle had commenced. Mr.. Balfou,
and | had q long conversation with hin
upon the whole situation, and we sub
mltted to him certain recommendation:
which we had been advised to make te
Mr.. Baker and the American govern
Elent.
American Strength Will Count
"On the strength OF the conversation
he submitted proposals to President
Wilson. with the strong support OF
Premier Clemenceau, TO enable tbs
combatant strength of the American
army to come into action during this
".ANNAc' ii4h'Ai4N NNii 90 eiiSiC was az iiOPN
OF it coming in as strong separate
army. BY this decision American bat
talions will be brigaded with those OF
the Allies. This proposal was submit
ted by Lord Reading, on behalf of the
British government, to President Will
son, and President Wilson assented tC
the proposal without any hesitation
with the result that arrangements ~
now being made for the fgh% ne
strength of the American army to be
Immediately brought to bear in this
struggle, a struggle which is only now
beginning. TO this extent, and it is no
mere small extent, that the German at
tack has been held up. 1t has stirred
up the resolution and energy of Amer
ica beyond anything which has yet oc-
Cured.
"Another important decision taken
by the Allied governments | must also
call the attention OF the House to. 1t
became more obvious after the battle
than ever before that the Allied armies
were suffering from the fact that they
were fighting as two separate armies
and had TO negotiate support with each
other. Valuable time was thus lost.
Some of us had been deeply impresse
by this peril for some time and had
done our best 20 avert it.
Single Command Needed
But the inherent difficulties to be
overcome are tremendous. There are