The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-07
NEED OF SHIPS
MOST PRESSING
Allies PROBLEM
Wheat in Australia and Fats
in Africa Cannot Be Used
for Lack Of Ships

It is surprising how few of our
Americans have grasped the signiff-
canoe of the fact that in Australia,
country that has contributed material
ly to this war, there is, as the result of
at least two harvests, piled up a great
quantity of cheap wheat and much OF
it in the open air, where it can not be
adequately protected from various
kinds of damage. Yet we have had
an unprecedented call upon our wheat
supply in this country and in Canada
resulting in q great increase in prices,
due to the fact that the European ma
items absolutely required wheat for the
sustenance of their people. The an
swer to this apparent anomaly is that
it takes three times as long for a
ship to go to Australia for food as it
does to go to Canada or the United
States, and the world has not the ship
ping available for the long hauls be-
cause of the submarine menace and
the exigencies of war.
Oil and other food stocks are also
piled up on the Asiatic and African
coasts awaiting shipment, while we
are using food fats in our soap because
we can not get at these stores.
The most pressing problem before
the United States and the nations en-
gagged with it in the war against the
Hohenzollern dynasty is to supply food
and ships and thus defeat the German
submarine attack upon the left flank
| of the western front
| The western front supply must be
maintained and must eventually be
pushed forward by Americans, or
there will be no final conclusion to the
great catastrophe.
Many of our people do not seem to
realize that we have entered into the
great struggle of autocracy versus de-
mocracy, and that President Wilson
has said that we can not conclude a
peace with any but a constituted rep
resentative of the German people. That
neans that we must defeat, and alb
soluteiy defeat, the most powerful wal
lord in all history, who has at his
command the most wonderful wal
machine that has ever been devised
We can not defeat him with a pound
ing of drums or waving of flags OF
with any form of national hysteria
We can only do it by concerted actor
IN food saving, shipbuilding, mum
items making, and soldier training
The sooner we settle down to this ter.
rible task the sooner it will be over
Every day that we delay in our grasI
of our responsibilities means the los:
Of so many hundred OF so many thous
and of our own boys, who will have tt
60 to the trenches fer that much long
er period of time. If we can resolGte
lily and successfully meet this problem
in the next u months, it IS probable
that we can by that time see what it
conclusion is likely to be-
At the present time no man can sa!
what viii be the outcome. German,
now occupies the position of a victor
We dare not let her remain so. Ever,
ounce of energy that we can put int
the fight we must use, whether it b
| ir the production of food, in the sup
preston of German propaganda, il
the building of airships, in SUSTAINING
our embargo, or in carrying on on
productive forms of industrial and az
rlcultural life in the best way possible
Until we begin as a people to fndivid
L uaIly take a personal interest in ever
I phase of this war, and until the mos
: interesting thing to every America
when he rises in the morning is VIVA
happened on the western front the da
before, we are not only in danger, BIT
: in grim and serious danger that auto
3 cratic forms of government will re
D place those in which we now take sue
pride and satisfaction.