The Dominion MONDAY, JULY 30, 1917. A GREAT RECORD

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3149, 30 July 1917, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, JULY 30, 1917. A GREAT RECORD

Great, though not exaggerated, claims were made by the British Prime Minister in the statement which is reported to-day. Mb Lloyd George was able to tell the fw "ft J° u ™. a listeto whom he spoke that the British Empire has raised seven pillion men for war service, including a million men from overseas, tod that Britain permits no other labour to-day than that which is of national importance in connection with the war. Those who E ee in his statement a guarantee that Britain will not, falter or. fail her Allies in the period ot-stress which lies immediately afead will at the same time revise that the strength of fi ei . pogition is in iDO small degree due to the enterprise and foresight 0 f the Government, with Mr. Lloyd George at its head,' Wiioh took pffico'a little over'seven tnpntiis ago. Chiefly as a result of the Eussian collapse the immediate aspect of the war is in some respects moro critical at the present moment than it was in the closing months of last year, but in British countries, at all events, people are facing tho future in a spirit of confidence which was far from being equalled La December, 1916. It was said at tho time by an English! newspaper that tho new Administration canio into power at the blackost moment of the war since tho days beforo tho Marne. _ In this there was perhaps a certain amount of exaggeration, but there is no doubt that in tho later clays of last year tho British nation was uneasily con3oious of a lack o{ leadership which threatened' to hullify its efforts in the war. T'no transformation since effected supplies all necessary proof that this state of public feeling was based upon a> just perception of tho truth. It at the same time bears witness to tho energy and foresight with which Mr. Lloyd George and his colleagues have attacked the problems by which the nation is faced. No one can survey the_ record of tho past seven months without realising that the British Government as it is now constituted has splendid achievements to its credit. Britain ; i has been lifted out of the policy of drift which threatened to oring her to disaster, or at' all events to destroy her prospects of decisive victory, and it is well within tho facts to say that she is now, to an even greater extent than at any former period of the war, the strength and the hope of tho Grand^AUiance. Looking at all that has been done to strengthen tho nation and per-1 feet its organisation for war since 'the Lloyd George Government took office, it is almost impossible to believe that so much has been accomplished in. the comparatively brief period of seven months. There is hardly a detail or department of war organisation upon which the Government has not brought reforming energy to bear. Upon one of its greatest! achievements—that of devising a solution of the food and tonnage problems —new light is thrown to-day in • Mr. Lloyd George's statement that the shipbuilding programme for 1918 contemplates the construction of four million tons of shipping, as against two million for a good j'ear (a record year, indeed) in time of peace. This is in keeping with the Government's commendable habit of at all times looking well ahead, and promises a continuous and rapid development of the measures by which it has already done so much to reduce the gravity of problems which not so very long ago threatened to get out of hand. What the Government is doing in this and other directions to justify tho confidence reposed in it was succinctly stated recently by an English political correspondent: We do ■ not yet know (he wrote) how near tho shortage of food and of tonnage —and the lack of foresight and decision in dealing with these jnatters of life and death a year ago—had brought us to 6trirvation and disaster, but we do know how tremendous hns been tho effort of reorganisation, and, despite some grievous blunders and failures, how splendid h'avo been the results achieved within a few brief months: tho War Loan, tho greatest finanoial effort of any nation in history; the Empire War Cabinet, pooling not only the material resources of Great Britain, the Dominions, and India, but the wisdom and genius of their statesmanship; tho reform'or the Admiralty; the work of the Air Board and of the Ministries of Shipping, cf Food Control, of Labour; the restriction cf imports and of brewing; tlvo anti-submarine campaign, with its results in the s.teady decline of losses in merchant ships'; the "miracle" of tho new military railway system in France; tho bringing under cultivation in less than four months, cf a million acres of fresh land, equivalent to tho production of two million tons of food: and the carrying through of plans which next year will add oilier two million acres for the growing of food within these islands.

Tho distinguishing qualities of tho Lloyd Cleorge Administration appear not only in its vigorous and untiring efforts to perfect the organisation of tho nation for war, though these arc- for the time being of commanding importance, but in measures intended to safeguard and benefit tho nation when peace has been restored.. Tho Government whioH has done bq much, to. defeat

the submarine menace and generally to make the national resources tell with maximum effect in war has also initiated great political and social reforms in which free rein is giyen to tho democratic impulse- born of the war. The fiourcscntation of tho People Bill, which grants all but manhood Suffrage, and brings millions of women into the ranks of enfranchised citizens, has been hailed, as the greatest reform rheasuro in British history. Sweeping educational reforms and tho steps taken to promote a great a.nd lasting revival, of tho British "agricultural industry take- a creditable plftcc ni the same general category. A late example of tho Government's foresight is the creation of a Ministry of Eoconstruction. It is reported to-day that the Bill constituting this Department has passed its sscond reading, but the first Minister of Reconstruction—Dn. Addison—has already been appointed. It will bo his duty to make all possible provision in" ad-" vancc for dealing with the gigantic problem of making work for the eight millions of soldiers, sailors, and munition workers who will be released at the end of tho war. In this matter, as in others, the Government is showing its wisdom in acting well in advance- of the actual emergency.