mine had been deftly secreted and did its work effectively.

On this line my battalion remained-the Cambrai-St. Quentin sector of the Hindenburg line, some miles beyond Bapaume-until at the close of 1917 I was invalided home with shell shock.

I will now pass to a short survey of the third phase of the war on the western frontthe campaign of the present year.

Small wonder that. at Russia's collapse and elimination from the war early in 1917. which released new German armies to outstrip our hard earned increase in numbers and equipment, and snatched from us the long promised hope of a great allied offensive-small wonder that on America's dramatic entrance into the arena our eyes turned to her with eager hope, or that we watched with almost breathless expectancy for the speedy materialization of her support. The enemy pretended to belittle America's contribution and loudly asserted that the "U" boats would prevent the utilization of her power in the allied cause. Again Germany miscalculated-as she has done throughout-the power of will in a great cause to overcome obstacles. Launching her vastly re-enforced armies, three or four to one, against the British front last March, she bent it but could not break it. Followed a like onslaught against the French front-with like results. Not yet had the allied armies filled up their ranks to equal Germany's in number. but they were newly inspired by the American support, and when Foch smote, in the second battle of the Marne, with America by his side, Germany's pride was badly mauled. Then Haig, already covered from the battering of the spring, smashed forward on his front and crossed the Hindenburg line at its strongest point, and now America, in her first independent campaign, has administered the heavy and humiliating defeat of St. Mihiel.

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In fine. Germany has been outgeneraled and outsoldiered. Her conscript system, which she initiated and thus imposed upon the rest of Europe, has, in spite of all its vaunted efficiency, proved a failure. She has broken every rule of warfare to which she had pledged herself: she has descended to every kind of barbarous outrage on sea and land. Except when she fights with greatly superior numbers she is always beaten. And why? Complete efficiency must enlist not only every ounce of material power; it must enlist every ounce of every kind of power. Germany has always left out of account the mightiest factor in an army's force, its spiritual power. That power is indomitable. It is this spiritual factor, imbuing every soldier and informing the whole line, which has set Ger man "efficiency" at naught. Germany's kind of "efficiency could succeed only if men were machines. It is the spirit of the allied armies that will conquer and has already discredited the German military machine, built upon a basis of materialistic science which ignores -and by the showing of her own philosophers denies the finest and most powerful of human qualities, while it openly flouts all sense of honor and decency. That, I hold. in the final analysis. is the rock upon which Germany's house will break-as her false and godless theory of life was the sand upon which she built it.

The allies possess a higher faith than thatand we may humbly thank God for it. All honor to the splendid men of all ranks in all our armies on the western front: all honor to Foch, coolly selecting the proper moments to strike at the spent power of Germany's hosts: all honor to Haig, coolly meeting the overwhelming odds of Germany's onslaughts and as coolly reporting the results of his counterstrokes of the last weeks: all honor to Pershing, coolly stepping into the arena with his fresh young armies, who are as coolly doing the work of veterans in our great cruSade for civilization.

3. The British Naval and Military Contribution to the War.

From the foregoing brief survey of the western front I will pass to a bird's-eye view of the other fronts, scattered over the face of the globe. To cut off from our enemies all external support, direct or indirect, it was necessary not merely to meet their attacks in the European fields, but to eliminate them as far as possible from all other parts of the world. Hence the campaigns employing naval and military forces in which the British dominions, South Africa and India have joined us so splendidly against the German colonies and Turkey's territories in Asia. South African and British troops have gained complete control of the German colonies in that continent. Australia and New Zealand have seized their possessions in the antipodes; our gallant ally. Japan. reduced Kiaochow in a few weeks; our British and Indian armies in Mesopotamia and Palestine are performing the task of defeating and reducing the Turkish forces.

In

the Balkans, Serbia and Greece are striking at the Bulgar forces: while Italy, who on her front is performing so magnificently her stupendous task-more wearing and trying to armies even than such warfare as we are experiencing on the western front-stands by her allies with a steadfast loyalty which is beyond all meed of praise and gratitude. Lastly, we have the recent expeditions with which America is associated in support of the loyalist Russian populations against the machinations of German intriguers and agents.

In all these far-flung projects, it is our pride to have been able to take our partsometimes assisting, sometimes assisted by, our allies or our dominions, to whose loyal efforts I must now bear witness.

For indeed the contribution of every part of the British empire has been marvelous. Canada by herself has made an effort equal to that made by Great Britain in the Boer war. raising 500.000 men. Australia, in proportion

to her widely distributed population. has equaled Canada's accomplishment. Of the Indian troops serving under the British flag Gen. Smuts declared: "I never wish to command more loyal, braver and better soldiers. The Indian forces who are now helping to break up the Turkish empire in Mesopotamia are making a contribution to the war which should never be forgotten." New Zealand. with a small population of a little more than 1,000,000, has raised no fewer than 100,000 men. Newfoundland's effort is proportionately generous. South Africa, "compensated after the Boer war by one of the wisest political settlements ever made in the history of the British empire"-I quote the words of Gen. Smuts, who led the Boers against us in 18991902. and is now one of the most valued and influential members of the British war cabinet -South Africa has done yeoman service to the common cause, by clearing the Germans from that continent and by her contribution to the armies at the other fronts, a service which redounds to her own honor, as it bears glowing testimony to the solidarity of the British commonwealth of nations. of which she so recently became a part.

Turning to the high seas. I need not speak at length of the service rendered to the world by the British navy. whose predominance alone has made possible not only the continuance of the main campaign on the western front, but all the vast subsidiary projects for the discomfiture and defeat of the allies' enemies.

In August. 1914, the British navy had a tonnage of 2.500.000 and a personnel of 145.000 officers and men. To-day it has a tonnage of 8.000.000 including the auxiliary fleet, and in 1917 the personnel stood at 430.000. The joint action of the American and British navies has made possible the safe conduct of the American armies to France, and has almost wined out the threat of the pirate "U" boat. The navy's main task is not spectacu lar. but the figures are dramatic; it has convoyed no fewer than 13.000.000 men, of whom

I must claim your attention also for a few facts and figures concerning our air service. In 1914 Great Britain possessed a total of 110 airplanes and a personnel of 900 officers and men. In 1917 the personnel had reached 42,000 and the machines had increased to many thousands.

In 1914 the amount of bombs dropped was practically nil; in June, 1917, the weight of bombs dropped by British aviators on German fortified towns was sixty-five tons; in May. 1918, it was 668 tons. In a single day on the western front British aviators silenced no fewer than 127 German batteries, twenty-eight gun pits were destroyed and sixty explosions were caused.

were

From July. 1917, to June, 1918. 4.102 enemy machines in all theaters of war destroyed or brought down by British aviators with a loss of onlly 1,213 of our machines.

The following is a record of one month's accomplishments by British airmen: 139 enemy machines destroyed, 122 enemy machines driven down out of control, 7.886 bombs dropped on western front. 209.000 rounds fired from the air. 15.837 photographs taken, always, of course, under heavy shell fire.

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A big British airplane of a new type. carrying nine passengers in addition to its crew, recently made trip from the interior of France to the interior of England in just over one-half an hour. During the night of Aug. 21. 1918. British aviators bombed five German towns, dropping 194 tons of bombs.

The brutal raids of Zeppelins upon open and defenseless towns in England have been avenged, but only in accordance with the agreed rules of warfare: we have not taken our revenge upon the women and children of Germany, but upon their military centers and fortifications.

4. The Industrial Reorganization of Britain for War.

And now, after surveying the British naval and military forces in action, let us glance at the work of the British industrial army at home. For it is true that but for the work of the army of civilians our cause would have been lost.

Over 4.000.000 men and women are to-day working in British munition factories: they are producing in two weeks more shells than were produced in the whole of the first year of the war.

When war broke out Britain possessed but three national arsenals; to-day she has 150. Over 5,000 privately owned factories and works are now under government control; in one area alone shell bodies or the components are now being made by a musical instrument manufacturer, an infants' food maker, a candle maker, a flour miller, an advertising agent, several brewers, a jobmaster, a glazier and a siphon manufacturer.

In the last six months of 1917 Canada contributed no less than 15 per cent of the British output of munitions.

Upon British clothing and boot factories has fallen the great task of supplying a large proportion of the equipment of the Belgian, French, Italian and Russian armies: indeed. without British uniforms and boots some of our allies would have had no option but to relinquish the fight.

Canada has contributed quantities of railroad materials, including no fewer than 450 miles of rails, torn up from Canadian railways and shipped direct to France.

For the steadfast loyalty and heroic selfsacrifice of British labor to the allied cause no praise would be adequate.

As for the women, they are splendid.

Up to the outbreak of war Great Britain had approximately 200.000 female workers, mostly employed in the textile industry. Today over 5.000,000 British women are doing 1.701 different kinds of work previously done by men, and, what is more, they have broken every record of prewar production set up by the sterner sex. Over 1.000.000 are directly employed in munition producing plants, over 500.000 are employed in engineering and chemical works. 300.000 are working as farm laborers, 20.000 are in the uniform of the women's auxiliary army. corps. working in France or Britain as motor drivers. bakers, clerks, etc. Over 10.000 are in the women's royal naval service, doing similar duties for British jack tars.

I am told that 5.000 British girls have been dispatched to the American army in France; some are engaged in clerical duties and some are making pies for your boys at the front.

As our prime minister. Mr. Lloyd George, has said: "If it had not been for the splendid manner in which the women came forward to work in the hospitals and munition factories, in administrative offices of all kinds, and in war work behind the lines, often in daily danger of their lives. Great Britain, and. I believe, all the allies would have been unable to withstand the enemy attacks of the last few months. For this service to our common cause humanity owes them unbounded gratitude.'

5. The War Organization of Great Britain for Domestic Economy.

than actual privation: England has suffered deprivation. rather luxuries have been largely eliminated: necessities drastically reduced-but not to the point of causing keen distress or hunger. Her system of food control is partly voluntary, partly compulsory. As the economy exhibition will demonstrate to those who attend it, the weekly ration for a man or woman doing manual labor includes the following:

Butcher meat, without bone or fat. 8 ounces Bacon .12 ounces Butter 2 ounces Sugar (individual use for all purposes) 7 ounces

Milk is not rationed-but the supply to dealers is restricted to not over the average amount daily. for sale, which they had three months previous to the ration system going into effect.

Bread is not rationed-but bakers are allowed to use only 60 per cent of white flour and their supplies are similarly restricted. Maximum prices have been established for use and the nearly all foodstuffs in common poor are thus protected from any attempt at exploitation.

Undoubtedly a moral and sociological advantage has resulted from the enforcement of the simple life" upon all classes of the community alike. From those conditions has arisen a mutual gympathy and understanding

testifies to the democratic plan upon which our Anglo-Saxon commonwealths are based.

In spite of the exceptional difficulties created by the shortage of labor, Great Britain has increased her arable area by 2,142,000 acres

Three thousand government owned tractors are at work on 611,000 acres of land. One million acres are worked by steam plows under the government's direction. Cheese mak ing schools have been set up in thirty-three counties. Special efforts are being made to increase the supply of sea food; in this direction I would point out that the transference of a single trawler from the fishing industry to the mine sweeping service means 350 tons of fish lost annually to the country. or an aggregate of over 1,000,000 tons lost

per annum.

British agricultural scientists have rendered yeoman service. A Russian wheat which resists rust, but yields a miserably poor crop. has been married to a British wheat with a high yield which now repels the rust; the result is forty-two bushels per acre, or, with pushing, seventy-two bushels. There is every prospect of their producing in the near future a potato immune from blight or wart.

In order to preserve ̧ all available fruit 6.000.000 bottles are being distributed this year to housewives.

Britain's grain crop this year will be the biggest since 1868. The army of harvesters now employed includes wounded soldiers, college boys and girls, Boy Scouts. Belgian and Serbian refugees. Three hundred thousand women work on the land.

So much for the work of the government de partment, but what of the work of the people themselves?

Over 1.400.000 new allotments have been put under cultivation. mostly by people who have already done a long day's work in a munition factory, at the office desk or on other duties, It is chiefly owing to the patriotic efforts of these amateur gardeners that Britain increased her potato crop by 3.000.000 tons in 1917, thus releasing a vast amount of tonnage for the use of the allies.

This increased production has enabled us to divert cereal imports to France and Italy to meet the shortage in those countries.

6. British Financial Organization for the War.

In touching upon the financial effects of the war I can speak only as a layman, and give you such facts and figures as may serve to illustrate the dimensions of the British contribution to the allied cause as viewed from the financial angle.

During the first four years of war the British government has spent £7.930,000.000. To meet this sum £2.021.000.000 have been collected in taxation and state sources; £5.909,000,000 have been borrowed.

Deducting from the expenditure and revenue £800.000.000 for normal income and outgo during the four years, on the prewar basis, we get war revenues of £1,221,000,000, and war expenditure of all kinds, including loans to allies and purchases by government of goods that will be resold, £7,130.000.000.

The chancellor of the exchequer in his budget speech estimated the value of these recoverable assets (taking loans to allies at half their face value) as £1,796,000.000 at the end of next March (1919). Taking them as, say, £1.800.000 000 now, this makes the four years' figures as follows:

£7.130.000.000

Total war expenditures..
Less recoverable expenditure... 1,800,000,000

allies be deducted. I believe that these figures do not, however, permit of very exact comparison.

The stress upon the British purse has, perforce, been heavier; and the circumstances under which our expenditure has been incurred have been less favorable to careful economy than in the case of America. There is the further substantial consideration of the different periods of time during which each country has been subjected to the burden of war expenditure.

Under the circumstances in which we were placed, it is perhaps fair to opine that during the stress of war economy would not have been for us the chief of virtues. Yet the British government and the British people may be justly proud of their methods of raising revenue, and of the proportion of the war expenses met and paid as the war goes on.

First of these methods, which has been steadily inculcated and increased among all classes of the community, might be called the popular war loan habit as contracted in the periodical purchase of war savings certifi cates. Thereby the heart of the nation, with a regular weekly throb. pumps its financial blood through the whole nation's system. The agents of some 40.000 local organizations throughout Great Britain pass through the factories and the villages every week-end to gather those sixpences and half-crowns which quickly bring back to the contributors their war savings certificates and at the same time furnish the government with the "sinews of war." From these little £1 certificates alone the treasury has received £79,000,000. The total raised by national war bonds and savings certificates to July 27, 1918. was £1.028.000,C00 (roughly, $5,000,000,000). The result is that, whereas before the war there were not 350.000 individual holders of British government securities, there are now no less than 17.000.000 holders. The "little people" now own stock along with the rich in this great venture of a co-operative democracy.

The second method of paying our way as we go (so far as human endurance permits) is by a heavy increase of income tax and supertax and the imposition of an 80 per cent excess war profits duty. Thus, an earned income of £200 ($960) which before the war paid a tax of £1 10s ($7.20) now pays £9 ($43.20): an unearned income of the same amount, paying $11.20 before the war, now pays $57.60. The tax rate is raised as the incomes increase, and when an income reaches £2.500 ($12,000) the supertax comes into play and adds a second burden to the first. It is estimated that in the year 1918-1919The income tax and supertax will yield

And the excess profits duty with munitions levy

Total Or

£290,450,000

300,000,000 £590,450,000 $2,834,160,000

In addition to these two sources of revenue the government find another in increased customs and excise.

As for posterity, if it inherits no capital, it may at least console itself with having inherited a debt which will be only a fraction of what it might have been; and one hopes it may also bear in mind that to-day, the British citizen with an income of $2.400 per annum is paying in taxes (chiefly due to the war) no less than $1.000.

And as for me, gentlemen. I am well content to leave the solution of this weighty problem of dollars and cents. of pounds, shillings and pence, upon the broad financial shoulders of yourselves and of your banker colleagues in England. I doubt not that of this, as of other problems that our countries will inherit from the war, America and Britain, standing together, as they are now standing shoulder to shoulder in this great fight for our common heritage and for our common ideals, will jointly discover the proper solution.

And that reminds me. Was it not a financial problem also that gave our British fore