The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-12-06
THE WORLDS DEBT TO ENGLAND

~
F. D. L. Smith, editor of the Toronto Daily
News recently back from the war zone, maintains
that England has and is still bearing the biggest
part of the war burden.
"After four years Of a continuous, exhausting
field larger army than that furnished by any Of
her allies = '..' il +. ', +,
Northwestern France has become British
|country. English sentries mount guard in the
towns of Calais and Boulogne and along the coun-
try roads far to the south and east British troops
are everywhere British airplanes, British ammu-
milton dumps, British transports, British hospitals
line the roads and occupy the fields Of France from
the coast clear through to line drawn north and
south through Paris. ~,
"Not only this. British armies also uphold the
allied cause in half other vital theatres OF
war in Siberia, in Mesopotamia, at Baku, on the
Thurman coast, on the Dvina river, in German East
Africa, Albania Palestine, Italy and Saloniki.
'"The British people have borne patiently, 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 100 enemy submarines have been sunk,
most of them by the British. One and half MIL
lion men occupied today in manning and MAN.
tanning the British navy and merchant MARINE
Britain has lost 3,817,0O0 tons of her precious
shipping. The other allies and neutrals have
gained 100000 tons. She cannot replace her
tonnage sunk for two reasons-she is using her
manpower to the utmost, not for her own inter-
Lests, but in the common cause. In her shipbuid-
ing yards two-fifths of the labor and machinery
are required for repair work done as much for her
allies as for herself. Yet in four years by an al
most superhuman effort she has increased the
strength of her navy by so 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 word-that is new navy larger than
any other save her original fleet.
Britain financed all her allies until the United
States came into the war. She has supplied Italy,
France, and the United States to say nothing of
Russian prior to the revolution, with a great pro-
portion of their guns, munitions, rifles, uniforms
and airplanes. Besides supplying coal for her own
navy, merchant marine and industries, she has
furnished France 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 expenditures of lives that she has
subjected herself to the most grevous losses Up
ward of 100000 British soldiers have given their
lives in the last four years. Last year alone her
list of casuaties-dead, wounded and missing
aggregated $4,000. Her donation of men to the
allies cajse exceeds 100000. In proportion to
her population she has given nearly three times
as many men as Canada. If Canada had done as
much it would have 100000 dead. Even as it is,
half of the men the Canadian army were born in
Great Britain. If the United States ever equals
Britain's contribution to date the American re-
public will have nearly 100000 soldiers in
khaki, and nearly 100000 Americans will have
given their lives for the common cause. New
| York Times, -: .l..