The Dominion TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1017. AMERICA, AT WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3175, 28 August 1917, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1017. AMERICA, AT WAR

■ A , N J A i mer , ican war cartoon of recent date depicts a comfortable individual labelled the "Average 11 r'' JJ lttyi ß afc c <ise, contem--11 ? A > te doming war cloud through too wrong end of a tclcscopo, and remarking: "Oh, that's a long way off. This is certainly ?cc a fair indication of what America, has done, and is doing, to jintiry her status as.a belligerent. Published in any other country than tho United States it would invite denunciation as' a scurrilous libel. In its_ actual setting, however, it m quite in keeping with much' that has_ been said and written in the United States since President Wilson signed the war resolution in April last,_ and typifies the settled determination of leaders of public thought in America to take nothing for granted and spare no effort in arousing the whole nation to the gravity of the issues at stake in the war. attacks on public apathy and a distinct tendency to exaggerate rather than minimise tin problems of tho war have in fact been a leading feature of Press and public utterances in tho United States during the last five months. Agitation on these lines is .in no way identified with 'want of confidence, but it is perhaps at time-, fiional glimpse of American activibsional glimpse of American activities from a long way off. If it is true that a- certain amount of public apathy has still to be overcomo in America—a thing that could have been said of Great Britain and her Dominions when they were belligerents of much longer standing—it is equally true that sho is developing her resources for war and shaping her plans at a pace and on a scale which exceed the most hopeful anticipations formed before she entered tho arena. In tho United States, as elsewhere, organisation for war involves the solution of immensely difficult and complex problems, but ample proof is already afforded that in attacking theso problems America has profited wisely by the experience and tho failures of tho nations with which she is now allied. Reviewing the measures taken to develop trio national resources and turn them into tho channels where they will tell with maximum a writer who does not minimise the initial difficulties to be overcome, and indeed emphasises the handicap imposed by what ho calls tho 'Tiangover of Liberalism and peace politics," remarks that a wonderful, if little advertised, work is being done in Washington. "While the politicians and minor officials muddle and worry in the approved AngloSaxon style, the business men and economists are pushing things forward with truo American hustle. A body called the Council of National Defence has been called into being. It consists of half a dozen Cabinet Ministers, and as many first-class men of affairs who have thrown up their own work to bo at the disposal of the Government. The Council is taking time by tho forelock in a way which thoso who went through the first two years of war organisation in London may well envy. A great deal (he adds) hns tan said against organised business 111 the United States. It lias tan accused of subverting democracy in tho interests of plutocracy There hae been much truth in tho accusation. So long as tho conservative Republicans voro in power the alliance between "big business" and the politicians was too close. It produced unhealthily high tariffs. It encouraged tho "trusts" and other monopolistic abuses. But it is now the business man who is coming to the rescue of a democracy dazed by tho prospect of unaccustomed war. He has given the United States off-hand the nucleus of tho economic organisation which Great Britain so long lacked. Distrusted by Iho Radicals and Liberals in power ho is going to vindicate lii:n*eif ii' Hie factories and country l.ou.ii's no less cffui-tivuly than the equally distrusted British aristocracy and plutocracy havo vindicated tliomeahras on tho battlofiold, .

A cursory survey of what America lias already accomplished in developing her resources and assisting her Allies makes it quite clear that tho hopes implied in this survey of her initial steps in war organisation arc not too high. The extent to which she has made her stupendous financial resources available is indicated in a recent cablegram stating that her war expenditure, ' two-thirds of it -is yet advanced to the Allies, is now nearly £5,000,000 per day. She has organised food production on business methods to such good purpose that this year's harvest is expected to yield a billion bushels moro of food-crops than were raised last year. The efficiency of tho Allied blockade of Germany is rounded oft by an American export embargo which is intended to ensure in tho words of a Presidential proclamation, "that our supplies will not become available, cither directly or indirectly, to feed tho enemy.' In tho vital matter of ship construction America has an enormous programme in hand. \ cablegram published yesterday stated that the Shipping Board had submitted a programme- of 1270 ships, aggregating 8,000,000 tons, in addition to 2,000,000 tons already in course- of construction. Tho period to which these figures relate was not giren, but the- New York Evening Post stated oh July 14 that the programme then in hand contemplated tho construction of a minimum of about 6,000,000 tons r f shipP.iug within two years. All the activities which have been noted are under expert control, and tie samo is true of extensive measures for the economical collection and maikctin.g of raw material and for coordination of. the manufacture of war supplies which will reuuee tho bills of tho American Government and the Allies an d expedite the flow of supplies. In organising her land and sea forces America, like other nations; necessarily observes a • degree of secrecy, but some general facts have been made available. It is expected that tho Expeditionary Force of about 24,000 men which is already in France will be followed in the autumn by from 100,000 to 120,000 I National Guardsmen and by as I many more during the winter. It has an important bearing upon the problem of further expanding the strength of the American Army in Franco that it is proposed to equip tho National Guard divisions as they arrive with French artillery. According to a well-informed Washington correspondent, it is regarded as practically certain that this course will be followed, and ho adds I that presumably the first war work of the American divisions will be done with tho famous Fronch "seventy-fives." It is probable that direct co-operation between France and. America will pot stop at this point. Fren'ch assistance in training both officers and men of_ the. American divisions may materially advance the date at which tho United States will bo able to place a big army in the field. Just how long this will _ take is meantime a matter of conjecture, but there is not the slightest doubt that in building up both land and , sea forces tho American authorities are working with tho same method, energy, and determination as they have visibly brought to bear upon other departments of war activity. Their avowed aim is to make provision for a war that may conceivably last for years—a war which will entail tho enlistment of millions of men, and demand' an unsparing concentration of human and material resources in conflict on land, sea, and in the air. Acting in the spirit of this determination, America is at once showing herself a faithful ally and taking tho course best calculated to shorten the war.