GRAPPLING WITH THE PIRATES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3066, 30 April 1917, Page 5

GRAPPLING WITH THE PIRATES

■■■■■■"; RfITTCTIW -RV MR ITflVn fflrtßPl? ' ItUIMNu orliEiLll Bi lull. LLUIJJ udUuuiv "WE'.CAN DO IT-IP YOU DO YOUR PART" . (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copjright). (Rec. April 29, 5.5 p.m.) ; . .London, 'April 27. A distinguished assemblage gathered at the Guildhall on the occasion- of the presentation of the Freedom of the City to Mr. Lloyd George. All the Dominion and Indian representatives wore present, with' Lord Curzon, Lord Milner, Mr. Henderson, and numerous Peers and members of the House of Commons. The Premier had a great reception. Ho began his speech by emphasising the growing British superiority over the Germans. In June, 1915, he said, we had lost eighty-four guns and a considerable amount of prisoners. Since then we had. not lost a single gun, and had captured four-hun-dred, while we had taken ten Germans for every British soldier they hai captured., The Vimy ridge, with two hundred guns, was captured' with a fifth of _tho loss sustained by the .French in the early days when they had inferior! equipment.'All this meant ultimate victory at less cost. The Germans, knew.that. . '.-" '.-" - i .■'-.•■ Our Worst Problem. "Our victory," Mr. Lloyd George continued, "is becoming increasingly assured. Submariuism is the worst problem we have to meet, and wo mean to do it. Germany 1 means to make the seas absolutely impassable for any craft. That is .essential to victory for them. It is essential to victory for us that they should fail. Do not let us minimise the gravity of the situation. Unless we appreciate it wo cannot meet it. This problem has worried tie for at least two and a half years. At first the Germans themselves did not realise the potency of their weapon; later they concentrated on building submarines. Since the Germans determined to sink all craft indiscriminately, they have sunk more ships, but they have brought America in. I am perfectly satisfied with the balance. America at length saw it was useless waving a neutral flaglin the face of a. shark. The best brains of the Allies are applied to the submarine problem. It would be unwise to say more at present; but, believe me, we arc concentrating on this problem. I have never seen an ineoluble human problem, and I do not believe that this is an exception." ; Control of Food and Ships. ■ . Mr...Lloyd George then outlined the steps taken by the Government Departments to deal with the food problem. He safd the farmers were- now cul j tivating .10 per cent, mere land than "before, the-war.'"The farmers had been given-a guarantee, so had his labourers ; and after feverish activity in the last few months we had a million acres of fresh "land under cultivation, which meant an addition of two million tons of food.,' "We are taking steps now for ; the harvest of 1918, and not a minute too soon. Three million fresh acres of land are being put into cultivation, and even without a ton of food being brought from abroad no one can starve. But all must help. You save your rations, and koep to them; The kitchen must help as well as the workshop and the trenches. If those stops for cultivation had been taken a year or eighteen months ago wo should have had no danger about food now.' . The cutting, down of imports last year was not adequate. In addition to a saving of one and a half million tons last year, now arrrangements were now in working .to stop an additional six million tons of imports, and arrangements were being made whoreby ultimately the imports wfiald bo cut 'down by over ten million tons yearly without interfering with any essential industry. "Furthermore we are going to save all timber. Wo are making arrangements by which we c v an get most of our minerals worked in the mines of Great Britain; we shall be getting four million tons of ore, in addition to what we are getting now out of thiscountry. by August next, and our blast furnaces will, be adapted for "that purpose. You know what ten million tons of imports means. If this had been saved a year ago there would now have been a year's supply of wheat stored In this country. There were eighty-five million "bushels of wheat in Canada to be had, he could not say for the asking, but for tho fetching. It ought to have been here. "I believe about twenty or thirty million bushels of this had to go to tho United States for lack of other market. We must cut down our food until wo discover a motbod of 9bstroying this ocean bacillus. That is one thing that has got to bo done, but not all. We are.building ships, and tho Shipping Controller has' already made-arrangements by which we will lmvo thrice, possibly four times, as many new ships in 1917 as last year." ... He had also brought practically tho whole of the shipping of the country for the first timo under complete control and requisition. "That means," ho said, "that the ships of this country are going to hn concentrated henceforth upon the essential, vital, trade of the country. The Shipping Controller has so concentrated and arranged tho traffic that although we aro losing heavily in ships, and assuming that we will still continue to lose at the same late, in July we shall bring more cargo tonnage into our ports than wo did in March last. The Germans thought we wore done, but thoy did not know the race they were dealing with. When pressure is brought to bear on this'olfl counfay, it somehow or other wins th; ough, and it is going to do it this time by the mean's I have mentioned. We Can Defy Them At Their Worst! "I. have no hesitation. aTier daily investigating the Government's roports and looking'at the wholo thing in its worst as well as its best aspects, in saying that if our programme is carried out—which means'that everybody in the country will do his duty—the German submarine campaign is beaten. But the publio must stick to its ration s. farmers and labourers must cultivate their iand, the workmen "in the shipyards and the manufacturers must do their best to increase the supply of ships. If we carry out all tlmso things faithfully, we can defy the-very worst the enemy can do." The speaker added tlint lie hnd dealt at length with this, submarine question because it'undoubtedly had drawn a great deal of attention, and the figures were alarming, but the Government,had published them all because they wanted the public w> know that the present Government concealed nothing from the publio. "Britain is a country that you don't get the host out of until you know the worst. That is true of any oountry. with grit. I am not {jfliujg tc say thai

the war will continub through 1918; but we must tal;e no chances. Wβ nave taken far too many. If tho German knows that, by holding out until the end of 1918, lie can win by starving us, ho will hold out; but he also knows tfiat tho longer ho holds out, tho worse it will be for.him. Hence peace might como much, earlier."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Reutcr. ~" PUBLIC ATTENTION THOROUGHLY AROUSED THE SUPREME CRISIS OF THE WAR. * London, April 27. The loss of fifty-five'ships in a week has caused a sensation among tho public and in Parliament, and Eas entirely changed the attitudo of many members of Parliament towards the Corn Production Bill. The newspapers demuid that the Admiralty shall publish the facts more fully. Doubt is expressed whether we are dealing with the submarine menace with suffioient energy and enterprise, and also-whether the building of men is proceeding with tho utmost activity. All shipyards ana" engineshops, the papers state, must bo fully mKiued, and must work day and night without intermission. The Admiralty should continually review all the arrangements for fighting submarines, and fresh minds should be brought to bear on the problem. It is essentially a young man's job.'There is a general impression that compulsory rationing is inevitable, and that the six or eight weeks of grace which Lord Devonport has promised is merely the time necessary to establish the intricate administration. The "Daily News"_ states: "We know the facts. These are Being kept from tho general public for national reasons. The facts are of the gravest moment to the safety of the Empire, and warrant tho statement that we are at the supremo crisis of the war. Wo must eat less food." Lloyd's Weekly Index, (of shipping) has been suspended.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn, \ . NATION'S BREAD CONSUMPTION 2-LBS. OVER THE LIMIT London, 'April 27. Captain Bathurst, Secretary to the Food Controller's Department, in the House of. Commons announced that the estimated consumption of bread last week was 61b. per head, instead of 41b.—Aub.-N.Z. Cahle Assn. ) . ' BRITISH IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.. . / ' London, April 27, British imports during Maroh. decreased by £5,001,824. The exports increased by £6,513,012. Re-exports decreased by £1,241,990, ' AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT SUNK ' ALL ON BOARD SAVED. Melbourne, 'April 28. The Federal Prime Minister (Mr. W. M. Hughes) has announced l that the P. and 0. steamer Ballarat (11,120 tons') was sunk at the entrance - to the English "Channel on April 25. All the troops and members of the crew, were saved. —Press Assn. . . ■.-.'■ . SCENES ON THE BALLARAT. (Rec. 'April 29, 5.5 p.m.) ■ London, April 28. Details regarding the sinking of the Ballarat show that the troops oil board were practically all Victorian reinforcements. Owing to the use of bad coal the vessel's speed was reduced, and this also caused a large beacon flame above the funnel. Tho men.ascribe the torpedoing of the liner to these factors. They were mustering on deck for an Anzac Day celebration when, the ! torpedo was seen approaching. The vessel swung and attempted to evade the projectile, but it was too late. After the explosion the Ballarat quickly settled by the stern. The bugle called the men to stations, and inside four minutes everything was ready for the abandonment -of the ship. The parade was marked by absolute calmness and-cheenness, the men singing as they took their places. All were wearing lifebelts. The day was fine and the sea calm. To the calls of the officers: steady!" the men replied: "It's all right, sir—we are all right!" Nine boats were lowered, the men carrying their pets and singing m unison: ''Australia willjfco There." Then the engineer reported that he would be able to proceed with the remaining propeller, and the boats were recalled. Volunteers wero asked for the stokehold, and iunefreds volunteered. Forty were selected, but were not allowed togo below, as tho water was steadily gaining, and the ship appeared to be settling. The men were therefore re-formed at stations, and ordered to board two trawlers which had arrived. ' The transhipment of the troops and some of the crew was quickly completed. The majority of the men were without kits—some were only partially dressed, and the officers would not allow them to break ranks to secure their belongings.. The only casualty occurred 'to a. private, whoso shoulder was broken by flying splinters. Everybody had » great reception on landing. A number of vessels quickly'responded to tho Ballarat's -wireless call. She was taken in tow, but sank Fefore she ould be . beached.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THE "PLEASURES" OF PIRACY CAPTURED U-BOAT CREWS NEARLY CRAZY. ' ... New York, April 27. Admiral Sir Dudley De Chair (a member of the British Commission to America), in describing the difficulties of the submarines,- states that some of the captured crews were nearly crazy, and were wholly sick of the job. The mother submarines, for replenishing torpedoes and fuel, had been only a small success, because of the difficulty in locating tho submarines. A 8-pounder gun is effectivo if the shot strikes a submarine, but when a vessel was being attacked by a submarine a 4-inch gun was more desirable. It was most difficult to know if a hit had been made. A submarine'sometimes would sink to the bottom and emit oil so as te deceive. Whales were one of tho greatest difficulties. They absorbed numerous projectiles, fired in the belief that fhey were submarines.—Aus.N.Z. Cable Assn. GERMANY OFFERS SAFE CONDUCT TO NEUTRALS , Amsterdam, 'April 27. Germany has offered safe conduct to neutral vessels sheltering in British harbours with foodstuffs for their countries.—Reuter. ! , NORWAY'S SHIPPING LOSSES. ' ■ / ' Copenhagen, April 27. Norwegian newspapers state that since February 1 twenty-five Norwegian vessels with food, coal, and forage for Norway have been sunk by submarines. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. f THE PINCH OF HUNGER IN SWEDEN S (Rcc. 'April 29, 11.5 p.m.) Stockholm, April 28. The police dispersed ten thousand women who were parading the streets demanding cheaper food, and also naval and military food demonstratioiis. Tho participators accepted the admiral's advice, and returned to their ships and barracks.