AMERICA AT WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 227, 13 June 1918, Page 8

AMERICA AT WAR

SOME OF ilEli PROBLEMS

THE PRESIDENT AND HIS

COLLEAGUES

i,By Lin liny in lhe Jxiudou "Times.")

It' in- consider briefly some of America's, difficulties, a mole jiift :>iid illuminating estimate of her achievement to-day will bo gained First of all, we have "to remember that |he Ariieiii-sui nation, like on i- own, was for yea in lulled into a .-eiise. of l'alie security Jjv persons who persisted in inking tiio good int.-niions of other nations for granted, and vim passionately upheld the strange dorlrims lliat the hest way to keep ont of walls to remain unprepared for war. Tive .rears ujo "militarism" was as great a liogey in the United States as ii: was i» the United Kingdom. . When the. storm broke in IflU, and it became apparent mat America would sooner or later l><drawn into (lie conflict, there was no lack of able and patriotic Americans to preach the doctrine of Preparedness. Hut politics blocked the way., A Presidential election was pending. and, us

usual, both sides sat, on the fence, :>n,i declined to commit themselves. Possibly bath sides were risht. for American public opinion was far from being unanimous upon the desirability oi war until less than twelve months ago. Anyhow, nothing was done; and when America entered the wur, her Adminislratioi. was faced ivith the stupendous task of creating and cunlrolling an Army of millions with machinery which had been designed merely to control the operations of an Army of a hundred thousand. Small wonder if the machine creaks a little! Ours did, too. Political Difficulties. Indeed, most of America's dilticulties are-political. The trouble about matin# war upon purely democratic lines is that so many people have to be consulted; and not. only Congress, but Ihe forty-odd State Legislatures of the country arc all most jealous of their privileges in this respect. Again, Urn American Constitution, although a model in its way, and although it gives its Ministers of State ». security of tenure—and eonseqitenllv a freedom of action—greatly lo be envied by harassed occupants of the Government Trout Bench in the British House of Commons, makes ii: difficult to get rid of incompetent public servants in the critical limci of a great war. 'No reflection is intended here upon the United States Cabinet, which is working gallantly with inadequate tools; but a Government which cannot be removed from office in any circumstances for a space of lour years would he more than human if it did not exhibit a greater indifference to public opinion than a Government like our own, which is liable to bu requested, by an tager band of successors, to walk the plank at any moment.

Congress, then, althou,;h in the main it: has responded manf-jlly to :>U culls made upoii ils patriotism, is tenacious of its rights, ami deprecates the appointment of "dictators." Still, some dictators have been appointed, and their lil'c is not a happy on 1;, Mr. Hoover, of Belgian fame, lias done magnificent work in corralling America's food supply and diverting a sorely needed portion thereof to tho Allies. Dr. Garlield is endeavouring to distribute eoal to an unresponsive nation. Mr. M'Adoo is trying to unravel the railway tangle. The trouble is that these able and overworked men have not as yet beeu brought into i-uUicient contact with ono another. They are severally responsible ti> the President, but to no one else. A little lateral communication seems nitein.aty. In January, for .instance, as already related, Dr. Garfield, with the concurrence of the President, ordered a complete closing down of all industries, wholesale and retail, for fivo days. There was naturally some criticism of this; so much, indeed, that Mr. M'Adoo. Director of iiailronds, issued a statement to the effect that tho order was no work of his, and was, in fact, a complete surprise to him. It was a complete surprise lo Mr. Hoover too; and ho telephoned hastily to Dr. Garfield, pointing out the consequences of the order upon the vital question of food distribution, and claiming exemption for the iood shops, which exemption was immediately granted. The incident was a small one, but it revealed to tho pub!io that these three important oflicinls were entirely out of lonch with one another. Consequently a demand is growing up in various sections of the community for the creation of a small, strong, permanent War Committee, such as look the place of our own unwieldy Twenty-Two, wii'.i power to i'Site Orders-in-C'ouneil. There is also an insistent demand for the creation of a Ministry of Munitions. But to these the President shows no sign of yielding; and in the United States of America, what the President Pays "goes"—most emphatically

Labour again, as over, presents problems of its own. Oa ttie whole American Labour has played its pari: manfully, but here, as ever, wo are presented with the spectacle, first of Labour leaders who are unable to control their own followers; and, secondly, of the. soldier risking his life in return for a small fixed wage, while his industrial comrade is enabled to make his own terms, going oil strike if need be. for ' work.which brings him into no physical danger whatsoever. The cost of living lias soared up, and (he demand of Labour for higher pay has followed it. to a corresponding altitude. Owing to the drain of military service and the entir? cessation of immigration, the-labour market is bill scantily tilled, and those harbingers of national stringency—and feminine patriotism—(lie elevator girl and the car-conducting girl, arc abroad in thl land. The Future. ft may fairly be anteil: To what extent cuii the Allies rely upon American help in the field during lt/lb: American troops will undoubtedly lurnish immediate reliet to me war-worn French line l).v taking over a great sector uf trenches, and will be Able to inflict enormous casualties upon the enemy— ivhich, uy tliu way, i* much the moil: tiseiul thing that v.ii can do to-day. Hut. we must nor. expect too much. .Mure mignt possibly have been done had the American nation been free from the foibles and .shortcomings 01. the rest of humanity. A. year ago many enthusiastic persons, overjoyed at America's entry into tho war, actually assumed thai, such was the case, and most of us paid America'tho compliment ot believing at l(wst that America could prepare for action more quickly than any other nation. But it wan an impossibly high compliment. America hu 3 once more demonstrated tho fact, brought out over and over again in this war, that an efficient military system is made and not bom, and that no nation can iearu from any mistakes but ils own.

The war. in America, has fluttered Romcwh.it from "ouT-boostin;:." Once committed to Hie simple, the American people look up their task with characteristic enthusiasm. There were many contributing causes. Thousands of sensitive Americans had burned for three years with a sense of passionate resentment at; the cumulative insults heaped upon their beloved country b.v Oennaiiy, (iltd of shame at the mingled surprise and of the Allies o\cr America's supine altitude. Others, less sensitive but equally alive to tile situation, had long: realised that this ivas no mere European war, but that; if Ucrmany defeated France and Cheat Britain America's turn would come next. But the vast majority of tlio people came iu with a "whoop," without, baring thought out the difficulties of the situation, partly because "every generation must; have its war" and partly because President Wilson had appealed lo America "to mnke the world sale for democracy." Americans, if they have a fault, are a little inclined lo assume 11 monopoly of the democratic virtues, and the President's phrase set the country 011 (ire. The war al. once Assumed the aspect of a crusade, as indeed it; is. The New World was jjoinjf to save the Old. War fever fell upon the niunfrv. and (lie contrast 'between those who realised the win' and those who did ndt became more marked than ever. It was in vn>n that: the belter-balanced section of the community suggested thai promise was not quits the same thing as performance, and that newspaper headlines din. high do not in thornselves constitute a victory.

Hut the enthusiasts had to have ilie'ir itin?. "We aro going to win this war." iliev announced, "by bringinj in new

! ideas. Wo are going to send 20,000 acro--1 planes to bomb Berlin. lias that been done before? No! We are suing lo send over thousands of subinarine-ehas-ers—Thomas Kdison will invent, them and lleni.v Ford will build them—to end ihe Mibmurinu jicsl. We have, 'bo needs. America has never vet enierst-d defeated from a war." And so on ''That mav i* • m fi!i-'d the sober-inimlell; "but let us bear in mind tho fact that America has never found herself in conllicl; with Ihe full resource.? of a Hrst-clms Power." Hut this doctrine was ton imp:ilniable, and the enthusiasls proceeded to "boost" the war with all Ihe uiiwlirecied zeal of the gentleman who once blacked himself all over lo play Othello. The result was a, tremendous war boom. Conscription was passed bv acclamation: loans were over-subscribed. livervthin',' that a generous national spirit could do 'mi- done, mid many people, forget tins that national enthusiasm is no gtiiirAnlee oi liepuvlinenliil efficiency, at once assumed that th" irganisation of virion' was (•(lining automatically. The Transport Probkni. Will the partial breakdown of war uetiviiv, consequent upon coal sliortinje. irallic. consestlon. and severe weather, the bubble, burst. The boom came to an abrupt end—especially in the East— and southing like a slump set in. Hut that was quickly tilled over: and now .Ihe native ability and sound business instinct of the American people are grappling with the real problems of the war. The. War Deoartuient is beina reorganised largely on British lines; production has been speeded up. Bis brains are couceniraling on the transportation problem. which is going lo be the deciding factor in tlio war. To conceitirate on transportation when all your heart is set upon getting to actual jfi'ips in Js'ii -Man's Land is a hard ln.sk for a gallant and high-spil'ilod people; but the thing has to lw done, and tho wise moil of America know it. It is useless to prepare an overwhelming aruiv for service in Trance until you have prepared a means not rnerf'ly' of transporting, reinforcing, and feeding thai' army, but of continuing to maintain Americau and Allied armies already in the line of battle. So America, like tho rest of ns. must iiavu time. To-day, strangely euough— though Ihe fact might have been foreseen—her conlribntioii to the Allied cause is actually less than it was a year ago. Tho reason is simple. A year ago America was at peace, and her surplus resources were available for the assistance of her friends across the sea. Today she i.s at war; she has no surplus resources: all her energy is concentrated on. herself, and will be until she is ready and equipped for battle. When that happens—when her vast potential energy has beisii converted into dynamic energy— she will stop heavily into that scale of the balance recently vacated by Russia, and Prussian militarism will kick the beam.

But she has n fask before her which will call for national ability and fortitude of 'lie highest order. Above all will it call for national imagination, for without imagination a country which is situated from three to seven thousand miles away from Ihe seat, of war cannot possibly realise tho ■meaning of that war and tlie conseoue.ilccs if it is lost. So lei: us. with tlie grim realities of the struggle at our very elbow, make special allowance for our Transatlantic, Allies in this respect:, and we shall have our reward. For America is going to make good ill this war to a degree which will surprise eve.i her warmest admirers.