Evening Post. MONDAY, APRIL 16, 1917. LLOYD GEORGE'S TRIBUTE TO AMERICA

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 90, 16 April 1917, Page 6

Evening Post. MONDAY, APRIL 16, 1917. LLOYD GEORGE'S TRIBUTE TO AMERICA

Not the least telling passage in Mr. Lloyd George's brilliant speech at the luncheon given in his honour by the Americans in London was th,e tactful contrast between British and American methods of doing business. "The British," said the' Prime Minister, "are a slow and blundering people, but they 'get there.' Thei Americans get there sooner. That is ■why we are glad to see them in. We have been three years in this business, and, having got through every blunder, we have got a good start. Now that we are right out on our course it is suggested that America should study British blunders and start where Britain now is, not where she started." The most sensitive of British patriots will not refuse to admit that this is admirably eaid. The British habit of self-deprecia-tion has often been seriously misunderstood. A habit so far removed from the insane arrogance of Germany was one of the main causes of her grievous underestimate of the power and determination of her most formidable opponent. The same habit has sometimes produced a similar misunderstanding on the paxt of Britainls Allies and set them wondering whether she was really putting her whole strength into the fight and was prepared to see it through. But the history <\t the last two years and a-half has deprived both friend and foe of any excuse for further misunderstanding on the point, and even German! literalism is not likely to extract any comfort from the candid ayowal of Mr. Lloyd George. Nobody has better reason than the Germans for knowing that his claim that, go far as this war is concerned, Britain's blunders are mainly things of the past, and that her faculty of "getting there" is being more and more abundantly illustrated every day.

On the other hand, the most insular and complacent of Britons will hardly deny the correctness of their Prima Minister's admission that the Americans are accustomed to "get there sooner" than the British. The speeding-up of British industry to meet the needs of the war has indeed been one of Mr. Lloyd George's principal cares, and his success' in this great undertaking is not the least of his many distinguishe4.public services. But it is largely on American lines that this success has been achieved, and there is no room for doubt as to the immense influence that American energy can exercise upon the fortunes of the war if it is concentrated on that object. Tho moral influence which the adhesion of the United States to the cause of the Allies has exerted is already seen to be enormous. It has. put an end to all the doubts and the seavcliings of heart that were produced by the laborious attempts of President Wilson to hold the balancs even, and has authoritatively marked the cause of the Allies as that of humanity and freedom. It is not the quest of power or territory but the assertion of a great principle that has brought the United States into the field. "We have set out," said the American Ambassador *t the Lloyd George luncheon, " to help an enterprise for making the earth a placo worth living in. "We come in answer to the high call of duty, not for any material reward, or territory, or indemnity, or conquest, or anything. We have only before us the high duty to succour democracy when it is desperately assailed."

Otherwise than by the great moral influence to which we have referred, sio^ is / America to assist-' in defeating th« enemies of democracy? We aro informed from Berne .that military critics —presumably those of Switzerland —express the opinion that "the entry of America into the war will result in an aggressive sea policy against Germany, with the ultimate landing of troops on the German coast, involving a tremendous battle, completely outdoing Gallipoli." Gallipoli does not supply a very auspicious comparison from the standpoint of the Allies, and many things may be expected to intervene before any attempt is made to repeat that ill-starred enterprise on a scale tlhat would, risk a fleet as well as an army. There is much virtue in that word "ultimate." For the present and for a long time to come we must 'not' expect, much military help from the United States on the battlefields of Europe. At the present rate of recruiting' it would, we are toldi take ths United States -six years to raise an army of a million men. It is not on these lines that we can hope for any speedy aid from America, and we must even expect that /the great help which she has already provided in the way of arms and ammunition will be reduced in order to supply her" own needs as a belligerent. ■ i

What naval help the United States can 1! render forthwith will be the subject of , the conferences about to be held between the British Admiralty and Rear-Admiral , Sims, of the American Navy, who has just arrived, in London for the purpose. But in the meantime, President Wilson's idea is said to be that America can best help the Allies by providing an armada of merchantmen to replace the losses of tho submarine campaign. The proposal is to build wooden ships of 2000 tons and upwards, and it is estimated that they could be turned out of the American shipyards at the rnte during the first year of three per day. While America was still hovering on the brink of war it was suggested by the ManchesterGuardian that she might render this service, and th*t the ahipa should be of {ower toaji^g^aad-higher:»p*jd-,.tfea-Jjaj-j

standards adopted in the scheme of the British Government. If this suggestion is carried out, as it now seems likely to be, the United States will very shortly; be making good a large proportion of the losses arising from Germany's submarine piracy. Here, and in the sphere of finance, tho United States can render invaluable service to the cause of the Allies. One of the initial blunders of Britain which the United States may be relied* upon not to imitate is that of supposing that the war can be won on the lines of "business as usual." Business must be specially organised and concentrated, and pushed with special degree of "hustle," if the job is to be finished before the world is bankrupt.