LOOK OUT FOR A SURPRISE!

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3252, 4 September 1917, Page 7

LOOK OUT FOR A SURPRISE!

WATCH THE MIDDLE EAST-KEEP STEADV-THE DAY IS OURS

By HORATIO BOTTOM LEY, Editor of "John Bull."

"[VERVES, when the sun is shining and the lacls at the front are fight ing with light hearts and exalted courage! Really, I am ashamed of some of our talkers and writers. Anyone would' think that the British Empire was under its baptism of fire, that the British race had never before been " up against" things, that thus little island of ours —the centre and soul of the greatest family of States the world has ever known—had lost its grit and grip. Shame on you, croakers and'grumblers'; and ft double shinme on any man or woman who, knowing the truth, does not act up to the spirit of the crisis! I know the truth, and T say quite candidly that there is nothing to grouse about. Need for action against the submarine? Oh yes. Imperative necessity for the strictest food-rationing? Again, yes. Do it now, Devoivport!" was) nr.' cry and my injunction weeks ago. Well, it is not done yet. And T need scarcely say I i?m amazed' at the laggard ways at the Ministry of Food, and disgusted with all the talk while so little is done. But I am not going to waste my time on recrimination. Really, it is not very edifying to find the Prime Minister and the ex-Prime Minister indulging in jibes at each other. We know who is to blame. All the Old Gang, and half the New, are responsible for the position in which we now find ourselves. M e could have had this country smiling to day under its mil lions of' acres of wheat —great granaries might at this moment be loaded with comfortable stores of foodstuffs — if those political dolts who put Party before patriotism and risked our Empire's fortunes rather than abate a jot of their economic foolery, had really served the nation whose money they pocketed and forgotten their antagonisms in preparatin for the great struggle. They all knew it was coming. I nder the stress of stern facts, and the revealing light of great emergencies, those who held power through the years of menacing preparation are now conlessing that Germany's purpose and aim were well Known. \et these men. who formed His Majesty s Government, were so bent on scoring partizan victories and strengthening their hold on j office that they were deliberately blind to the truth and, what is more, kept the light from the eyes of the British people. IN THE FACE OF DANGER. But to-day we are face to face with some tiling stern enough and perilous enough to stifle all strife at home, and enough to dwarf into insignificance all thoughts of recrimination. In the past the politician betrayed l us by his wilful refusal to face the facts; let us see that he does not betray us now by his indifference. to the future. And the future I am thinking of is not Posterity—that lusty infant can look after itself. It is our immediate future that is in mind. I am not particidarly struck with that sort of patriotism which pretends to fight for our children's children and sings hymns to the century aifter this. We are m this world to live OUR lives, to protect OUR women and OUR children. Posterity won't care tuppence what happened in 1917. It will be just history. Btrt WE care. We ARE 1917, and this war is rioting to its close. We have noly to keep steady, tighten our belts, and be worthy of ourselves, and before the year is near its end we shall have won through, in spite of all the hidous mistakes of the fools and duds of Downing Street. It w the British people, not the politicians, who must j now take things in hand. We can do it, because the fight is now home just as much as it is in France and Belgium, in Salonika Mid in Mesopotamia. It is you and me—every man, woman aaid child —who are called upon to defeat the *' U"'-boat. Don't let us waste time in denouncing the wicked German. He is a fiend incarnate —that is certain. He is a blood-lu'sting devil, and in his desperation—for he is desperate—he is ticking at nothing. WHO WILL STARVE FIRST? Well, that is the position. Let us face it. The submarine is sinking our lootf ships and sending other valuable cargoe.3 to the bottom of the seai in hundreds of thousands of tons every week. The wise men oi' Whitehall hide the truth —a dangerous as) well >us a ridiculous- proceeding. Tf we had had real live men —not bloodless politicians with soft hearts for Neutrals ; and soft hands, yes, for Germany—in the early months our blockade would have starved the Hun. But we were deceived: our cause —the world's caus'e — was betrayed. Germany was given time; the Foreign Office refused to allow th-s Navy to grip at the throat of the Hun —time to turn the tables upon us. And to-day we are engaged in a starving match—the struggle has resolved itself into a, battle of stomachs. But Germany will lose—that is, if we at home will it so. I know what I aim saying. I don't need a Secret Session to obtain my information. If we are anxious about our food—and we have every cause to be concerned —Germ my has passed the point of anxiety. She knows that she cannot carry until the harvest. Her ruthlessness on sea and oh land is the measure of her desperation. Foiled in the West, held up and now menaced in a new way in the Middle East, the Central Powers are making their last and final struggle. If Hindenhurg could gain a siicces- in the We-t if by the bloody sacrifices he is making over that long, swaying line of men and metal, .'he could ''checkmate Haig or hold up Niveile—then the end hi' fore-see'-;—his crushing defeat; the doom of German militarism —would at hast- be deferred. Meanwhile, the U-boat is making great and destructive progress. That is part of the enemy's fighting plan. Filling a victory on land, he is gambling for a success on the sea. But ho can only win it if we, the people at home, permit him to win. We can stop him. Nearly every ship ho .sinks — and he is sinking them in alarm'ng number—means .-o much less' food for u-. so much the greater need to oat as little as possible tn counteract the 10-s----es. Tho-se losses will continue: the Hun thinks he can starve us out. And he could if Wo were false to ourselves. Hut while there are food-hog,s in our midst, and because the Government has eon*val«:l the truth and so failed to impress every man and woman with th" dancer that faces us, we must be .MADE to economise. That is why. knowing the position, my "Do it Now. Devonport," was written. "Now'' might have been March; it is; going to I"

July. Four months lost —-and how much food wasted ! GERMANY'S PARLOUS STATE. One of the most famous of athletes always tells his men that in a contest of strength they cannot expect to win without being willing to "punish" themselves. When a man is in a race and feels ready to drop, let him he sure that the other fellow is feeling ai good deal worn l . Well, we are facing d fficulties, but Germany is in them. She is short of metal: she is unable to meet our great gun-fire with equal strength of artillery. She is short of food to the point of starvation. There are no bread riots in this country —and there need be none. Germany is in a ferment over tood—in her big cities trouble is constant: there is rioting and firing on the people. Docile as the Hun has proved himself, slow to realise the miserable failure of Prussianism, quick to believe the lies manufactured for his deception, he is now learning the truth. Defeat i.s bad enough but defeat on an empty stomach ls unbearable. And the morale of Germany is deeply shaken. The boiling down of the unhappy dead is less n sign of efficiency than of deficiency. 'lhe desecration of the remains of men who have bled and died for the Fatherland is another act of desperation. Contrast Germany's internal position to-day with our own, and understand there is not the smallest ground for panic or alarm. Reason, I repeat, for the utmost «<re and economy. pressing necessitv to save everywhere in foodstuffs. But no occasion fur nerves. Keep steady! And look on the best side; realise the wonderful resources at our command: measure at its truv value the vast material assistance thfrt America can give us —in food-ships, in money, in munitions, in men if need l be. Then look at the West —and to the East. The battle is stern, the losses are big—the West is exacting its dread toll. But we are winning. Those who talked and wrote so unfairly and so foolishly about the wonderful Hindenhurg and his masterly tactics—who dared to suggest that while we were advancing the German was winning: that, indeed, the British Army was the mere tool and dupe of the Prussian —must now for ever hold their peace. Haig's fresh and renewed successes are the alnswer of the guns to the belittlcrs of liritisli prowess, the tn'ducers of Tommy's pluck. COMING GREAT EVENTS. With all nece sry caution I would hint , at another success which nva<y even put into the shade the immediate military value of the smashing, if toilful, triumph in the West. Keep your eyes on the Middle East. There we may have a great and splendid surprise at any moment. It may come before these words of mine are read by you; it may be delated a little while. But its advent should alter the whole course of the war. Nations are stronger than rulers: Peoples prevail over kings and thrones. The soul of a country, be it steeped in culture or only rudely pure, i.s above the dictates of personal ambitions, is greater than the designs of politicians. Things are happening — complidiment, which unless something unexpected interposes, will strike fresh terror into Germany, and offer a- new and relentless menace to the "Hindenhurg Line." News from the Middle East is meagre these days—almost as small and bare as that which is allowed to escape from the cordon-drawn silence-; of Germany. But no news may be taken as good news. Do not think that the grass is allowed to grow under the feet of our soldiei/; around Salonika We went there in association with our Allies. It is not always possible to measure the value of military decisions by immediate results. Enough is now known to make it certain that Greece would have been drawn along the pa,»ths of treachery if Tino had been permitted to obey the dictates of his false heart. Some day the truth will be told. And the world .will he ashamed at the hesitation and delays in dealing wuii that Royal traitor —due to the pro-German influences which have dogged the fortunes of the Allies, enfeebled their decision, and sacrificed their interests. But now, Ido believe, Tino —the sycophant of Potsdam —-is powerless for harm; his Germ.m wife useless as the willing and scheming tool of her brother the Kaiser. THREE MONTHS MORE. Pending events will prove or disprove my information and my belief—in a little while it will be known whether the startling news which I predict is to quicken the hour of victory and make straigluer and surer the path to our » final triumph. But of this I am sure — that the warm sun of success is shining j down on the Allies. To-daiy, when apI parenty so much is dark and depressing, is the time for confidence as strong and assured as the need for determination is great and paramount. We who cannot light with the ordinary weapons ofi war can join in the struggle and help towards its rapid end. Three months more «nd the decision will have been made —the great verdict will have been given. Germany cannot hold out —we can. Germany i.s in want and de.-jj,-ration. Her soldiers are lighting iu massed array; they arc being sacrificed with mercile-s disregard lor human iiie. Our losses are heavy—mournfully heavy—hut tlmr are slight compared with the awful toll of German dead. Never before have J felt ,-u he lily the re-puisi'bilit y of those whose duty it is to guide and to hearten the national mind and spirit Let Ministers conceal nothing, misrepresent nothing. They need not fear telling the truth. But in informing the ptnple of OUR position, they niu.st tell all they know about tlie condition of the enemy—-all that is happening in Austria, in l!ulg'lTi, in Greece. So-ret sessions ere an abomination. The;: tell to the men who have (eased to represent the nat:,m what the nation should know: they merely sati-iy the curiosity of politicians. many of whom are suspect, while denying to those w,lio are bearnig the heat and the burden of th" day the news that would eitlmr -lili< u resolve or hearten hopes. A great Finpiiv is not maintained by craven souh. We a a People are worthy of our inheritanee. and worthy of the victor," which I i-; within our grasp.