LOW COST OF VICTORY

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 101, 28 April 1917, Page 6

LOW COST OF VICTORY

GUARANTEED BY RECENT

BATTLES

NOT A GUN LOST SINCE

JUNE, 1915

MR. LLOYD GEORGE ON THE

OUTLOOK.

(AUJ. AND N.Z. CAJLB ASSN. AND RBDTER.) (Received April 28, 1 p.m.)

LONDON, 27th April.

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 were present; also Lord Curzon, Lord Milner, Mr. Henderson, and numerous Peers and members of the House of Commons.

The Premier had a great reception. He 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 number of prisoners. Since then! we had not lost a single gun, and had captured four hundred, while we had taken ten Germans for every British soldier they had captured. The Vimy ridge,'with two hundred guns, was captured with a fifth of the 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. . , Mr. Lloyd George said he would not say the war Would \last through 1918, but he was taking no risks; hence the immediate increase in cultivation, etc., and the elaborate food measures. The future of the country depended upon how much politicians had learned./ 1 The Empire must be consulted in future before a war; and the Council of the Empire must become a reality. THE SUBMARINE PERIL I . "Our victory," Mr. Lloyd George con- ! tinued, "is becoming increasingly assured. Submarinisin is the worst problem we have to meet, and we mean to do it. Germany means to make the seas absolutely impassable for any craft. That is essential to victovy for them. It is essential tp victory.for us that they should fail. ' " . "Do not let us minimise the gravity of the situation. Unless; we appreciate it we cannot meet' it. This problem has worried us for at least two arid 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. lam perfectly satisfied with the balance. America at length saw it was useless waving a neutral flag in fehe face of a shark. , "The best brains of the Allies are apr plied to the submarine problem. It would be unwise to say more at present; but, believe me, we are concentrating on this problem. I have never seen an insoluble human problem, and I do not believe that this is an exception." HOPEFUL FOOD PROSPECTS Mr. Lloyd George outlined the steps taken by the Government departments to deal with the food problem." He said the farmers were now cultivating 10 per cent, more land than before the war. The fanner 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. PEACE MIGHT COME MUCH EARLIER "I am not going to say that, the war will continue through 1918; but we must take no chances. We have taken far too many. If the German knows that, by holding out until the end of 1918; he can win by starving us, he will hold out; but he also knows that the longer he holds out, the worse it will be for him. Hence peace might come much earlier.

"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 keep to them. The kitchen, must help as well as the workshop and the trenches." ■