The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1915. "ORGANISING VICTORY"

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2539, 13 August 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1915. "ORGANISING VICTORY"

The fact that the British shell output for August will be one hundredfold greater than that of September, 1914, is a striking proof of the splendid work which Mb. . Lloyd George^is doing as organiser of tho industrial resources of the nation. For every shell that was manufactured in Britain during the second month of the war a hundred aro now being turned out, and there is every reason to believe that when tho arrangements made by the new Munitions Department arc in thorough working order tho making of shells, machine guns, and other munitions will go on increasing at a very rapid rate. It is, of course, well known that when the war began our enemies were in a much better position than Britain and her Allies as regards munitions of war, but the extent of his superiority was hardly realised until recently. In his first Parliamentary utterance as head of the Munitions Department, Mr. Lloyd George remarked that Germany had for years teen silently piling up munitions. Till she was ready she was on the best terms with everybody, but all tho w bile die was accumulating immense quantities cf war stores "to tako her neighbours unaware and murder them in their sleep." It has been stated that Germany and Austria are turning out no fewer than 250,000 shells a day, or nearly 8,000,000' a month. This is a tremendous achievement; but Mr,. Lloyd George is quite satisfied that I if. Britain is in earnest she can surpass this vast output. The steps taken by the Munitions Department are already showing excellent ;e----sults. Lost ground is being rapidly made up. Germany cannot increase her. output to any great extent, and when the manufacturing power of Britain is thoroughly oiganised and going at full speed she should soon bo able to reduce the enemy's margin of superiority in munitions _ to vanishing point. What is being done in this matter is an impressive illustration of what Mn. Li.oyd Georok calls "organising victory,'' and not taking it for granted, For

the purpose of organising the munition industries an advisory commit-' tee of business men has been set up; and tho country has been divided into ten munition areas each under a committee of management: an expert engineer and representative of the Admiralty being associated with each committee. The holding up of supplies of materials for higher prices which has been practised in certain quarters will_ no longer be tolerated. The Minister declared most emphatically that such practices must, in the vital interests of the nation, be brought to an end, and the hearty applause which this statement evoked showed that it met with tho full approval of the House of Commons. In this, as_ in all other matters, the paramount importance of the Empire's welfare must be recognised. Mr. Lloyd George spoke very plainly with regard to certain aspects of the labour problem. Ho laid great stress upon the necessity for abolishing those "devastating restrictions" which limit output by making it impossible for a man to do his utmost without incurring the animosity of his fellows. He also referred to the need of stopping slackness; of suspending, during the war, all practices that tend to lessen the output of munitions; and of preventing tho pilfering by employers of each other's men, and so causing disorganisation and waste of effort. One absolutely essential thing is that our armies shall have ample supplies of the munitions of war. If this can be assured without a. departure from the voluntary principle—well and good; if not, then there can be no _ escape from some form of compulsion. Many people dislike the idea of compulsory work; but if compulsion is bad defeat is infinitely worse. In tho course of a frank discussion whioh recently took place between Mr. Lloyd George and the trades union leaders, the Minister stated that if an adequate supply of labour to secure the required output of war munitions could not be obtained voluntarily, compulsion would be inevitable. Tho labour leaders asked to bo given tho chanioe of getting the number of men needed. They said: "Give us seven days, and if in the seven days wo cannot get tho men wo will admit that our case is considerably weakened." For the purpose of enlisting this industrial army a vigorous recruiting campaign was started. Tho reoruits wore to be prepared to go wherever they were required in connection with the making of munitions. The seven days had not expired when tho last mail loft England, so wo do not yet know the actual results of the efforts to enrol this trades union army;_ but if the Government had found it necessary to resort to compulsion the fact would havo been made known ero this, so it must bo assumed that the voluntary response of labour has met tho needs of the situation for tho time being. The conference between Mr, Li.oyd George and the trades union leaders took place towards tho end of Juno, and the enormous increase in the shell output for August, mentioned in a cablegram which wc published yesterday, seems to show that effective measures are being devised for overcoming' the difficulties caused by the labour shortage. The Empire is waking up to tihe fact that' it is fighting the most thoroughly organised nation in the world, and no one has done more than Mil. Lloyd George to make the British public understand that this war cannot bo won on go-as-you-please principles.