The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-09-02

q
that regiment is entirely composed
i OF bankers. have seen q battalion
of thousand men marching into
action, TO tight and TO die. and every
man a banker.
That is our experience in Eng
land. Why, our business men in
4EngIand, one man in three remains;
| two are taken from the business,
one remains. lie does the work Of
| the other two and shares what prof.
its there are with their families and
all our business men, our business
men IN high places, serve four nights
a week as special constables on the
lstreet. Why? Oh, because our po-.
lice force is fighting in the line. Two
thousand miles of our railways have
| been torn up. we sent thousands OF
locomotives, our rolling stock, across
to France
You don't know what it has cost
US in man power A man said to me,
the other day in America, he said:
You know, since we have come in
to this war, we are going to show
the World what we can do, and this
American nation is going to startle
the world in this war He said: If
needs be, we are going to put into
Five million men! You know. L
couldn't help looking him in the
eyes and asking him If he had for
gotten what colossal campaign
This is, and whether it was not too
late to expect to sagger he world by
putting five million men in the field
today l said: Look here, my friend,
you know that in the first two years
or the war England by voluntary
enlistment without consumption of
any Kind, had brought five million
men to the colors, and at the end. of
1917 we had placed in the field of
France-in the ffeld-an army of six
million men And I said, YOU un-
defstand what that means to Eng
land? Six million men out of a
population of forty-two millions.
mat IS one man in seven of the
whole Of our population, old people.
women and little children. one in
seven seven: said: Your population in
america is one hundred and ten mil
IONS one-seyenth of one hundred
Gnu l;I, Ten mllllon is nearly sixteen
an III SIMPLY telling you what we in
england have had to do. and when
you nave placed sixteen million men
IN the field, you will then have done
1917 $3.50 - 10 ID
Now, you men in America. YOU
are In touch as very few others are
with all the labor and the financial
conditions Of the country. You know
the effect upon industry Of the re-
moVal of that tremendous number
or men, what their removal would
mean to England, the equivalent of
sixteen million men in America, and
that at the end of 1917.
lou know. men often ask me what |
are the lines of the British army.
A man said the other .day: What is
your biggest army, where is the big
gest British arny?' said: Don't |
you know? He said: No, I do not |
said: The biggest British army is |
under the sod.' That is where the |
biggest British army is. In the first |
rev months Of the war@these figures
are quite authentic, I verified them |
at the British embassy before I ven !
ture to put them before you-in the
first few months of the war we lost |
$4,000 men; we lost Is per cent of |
our entire fighting land forces in the |
nrst few months of the war. In the /
great retreat one division went in
to action $4,000 strong and 1000
engagement so returned. You talk
about the Somme fight, you know
what it cost us? $4,000 officers, half
a million men, and can't tell you
about the Dardanelles. We lost in
the first year in the war $4,000, in
the second year of the war $4,000,
In 1917 we lost 100000 men. You
know what France lost that same
year? 100000; that is to. say, that
IN 1917 the British force lost half a /
million men more than France. The
reason for this heavy loss was the
fierce fighting in Flanders. You
read about Passchendaele and Vimy
Ridge and they are names to you, |
but oh, the cost of them. We lost |
$4,000 men in one month Filled in
Flanders, a portion of the line; at
another point we lost, killed, 5000
officers and $4,000 men killed. /
can't tell you what, we lost in March,
but know this, our officers cas-
ualties were 10000 Verdun, you
have heard of Verdun, You know
how many divisions were thrown in
there? Twenty and a half divisions
Germanyethrew in twenty and a half |
divisions against Verdun from first |
to last. You know what was thrown |
in at Cambria? She threw in at |
Cambria 107 divisions and. 102 of |