THE SUBMARINES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12066, 23 July 1917, Page 4

THE SUBMARINES.

.MR. LLOYD GEORGE OX HUN ] CAMPAIGN. PREMIER'S SIX " IFS." [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, May 31. Just before the rising of. the House for the Whitsuntide holiday Mr Lloyd George made a statement on the efforts to cope with the submarine menace. He said:— It is very difficult to give information without to a certain extent, perhaps, revealing things which we had better keep to ourselves. All I can say generally is this, that we are making substantial progress. During the last, three weeks or a month we hava dealt more effective blows at the submarine than during any corresponding period of the war. ((lieers.) That, is true of this week ns well a;< of the preceding week. There is no doubt that that fad has been made manifest in the considerable reduction in our shipping losses. It is true that, we are not through thp month of May, but if tho ratio of our losses during the last twenty-five days is not. exceeded the reduction upoij the April figures will be. very considerable indeed. There does not seem to be any reason to suspect any worse figures in Ihe coming few dnyff, but one docs not like to predict. OUR DEBT TO T'XT TED STATES. Arrangements made for dealing with submarines are. 1 think, becoming in. ereasingly efficient, and we o-,vp a- very considerable debt, of gratitude to the great American people for the effective assistance they have given in the craft which they have placed at our disposal. Now ihat the American nation is in the war it is easier to make arrangements for the protection of our mercantile fleet than before. I think the nation has very good reason to congratulate itself upon the substantial improvement, and the unexpectedly early improvement, which has taken place in dealing with the great submarine menace. May lias shown a. considerable improvement not merely upon tbe figures of April, but a considerable, improvement upon the anticipations of the Admiralty as to what would occur.

There is a distinct improvement in our food problems as a result. But it> is very difficult to give a favourable answvr which would not be mischievous. If I say there is no danger of starvation, then some people, -would he apt to say, "Well, what is the need of our cutting up our land and making efforts to plough it?" and others would say, " What is the good of our rationing ourselves?" That is not the case. People must not rush from one extreme t'o thp other, and one must appeal to the common sense of the tionTHE SIX "TFS." After taking counsel with all those who advise me. after going into figures very carefully. 1 can say that if the nation economises, if the nation is not guilty of waste, if those who have got land available for tho production of food make the best, use of it, if workmen turn out tractors in order to help us to plough, if the Army help us with all the men available for tho cultivation of the land- (laughter and cheers)- in fact, if Ave all behave like reasonable human beings, who want to save their country from disaster, from privation and distress, the submarine menace is not one that need cause us any fear that the war is going to bo lost, for that reason. (Cheers.) [ use these words, carefully choosing (hem. and to those commentators who might on the one hand seize one point of the statement, dwell upon it, and exaggerate it, and others who might seize another point and exaggerate that, I would say that I make that statement as a whole. The Germans, we hear this morning, are depending mainly on the U-boat, warfare for success in the war. All I can say is, if that is the ease, their main hope of success is doomed to disappointment--doomed to disappointment! T say that- with a full sense of responsibility on my own behalf and on behalf of tho Government after the most careful consideration of the whole of the facts. Bui that does not mean that people need not economise, it. does not mean that, farmers need not plough their land, it. does not mean that people who have got any rich grass laud which should turn out cereals need not do so ; but if everybody does all these things), then the, German hope of triumph in this war, if based on their submarines, is to be the greatest- miscalculation in the whole series of the miscalculations of that fa tod Empire. T. would not- say this were there not a real danger in quite well-intentioned appeals which are made to tho public which create, a false impression as to the .situation. T am sure all you want to do is to tell the people the real facts. T don't think it is necessary to create a panic in order to make them do reasonable things, but T do appeal to tho members of this House, each in bis own constituency and each in his own way. to make, it, clear to the public that their co-operation is an essential part of this policy, and that unless all these elements are introduced the public can produce disaster by extravagance, the agrarian population can engineer disaster by refusing- to do thpir share. Bur if everybody in the community does his duty, patriotically contributing to the common stock,, then I say the submarine is not going to defeat 11s. (Cheers.)