U-BOAT MENACE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 5, 1 October 1917, Page 5

U-BOAT MENACE

URGENT APPEAL TO AMERICA SHIPS, MORE SHIPS, AND STILL MORE SHIPS HUGE TASK MUST BE FACED (Rcc. September 30, 5.5 p.m.) London, September 29. It is stated, on behalf of tho Ministry of Munitions, that the shipping losses since February 1 roughly equal the total losses of the war period before that date. It will, therefore, be necessary for America to turn out all the ship 3 she possibly can. 'The'enemy's submarines will! not cut off the Allies' munitions supplies, but the situation is not satisfactory, and unless America maintains her shipbuilding capacity she will hot be able to send armies, food, and fuel to Europe. Th» Germans may be expected to destroy a , further two hundred ship 3 by. next spring, and the present food supply will 1 be exhausted by then. Also, America j will be obliged to maintain her armies in the field, requiring an enormous, num- j ber-of ships. There is only one standard of building for a country as great in resources as is America, namely, to outbuild, with the Allies, the submarine destructions. If this means building six million tons of shipping annually, which is thrice as much as Britain has ever built annually, and five times as much as America has built, tho task will not be impossible, provided America makes her effort comparable with the Allies' achievements during the war period. The Germans are not sinking more than five million tons of steel annually, whereas America's present output of steel exceeds forty million tons. The labour would not probably require more than half a million men, mostly unskilled, and this task is as nothing compared to the efforts or the principal Allies in other directions. • For example, Great Britain, in addition to her. new Army and her output of munitions, has trebled the Navy's size and strength, and is also adding a million men, to the personnel.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. REQUISITION ANNOUNCED Washington, September 58. After October 15 the Government of the United States will requisition every American merchantman over 2500 tons. Tho ships will be operated by the owners, but the Government will supervise their operation.—Aus.-N.Z.' Cable Assn. AN INTERVIEW WITH TiRPITZ FAITH PINNED TO THE ; SUBMARINES, , . (Rec. September 30, 5.5 p.m.) ; London, September' 29. A report emanating from Budapest states that the "Budapeste Hirlap" has interviewed Admiral -von Tirpitz, who stated that "the English and French monopoly of tho Mediterranean must cease. The mere neutralisation ,of Gibralter and the Suez Canal would not lie enough. "We have only to defeat England to save the Central Powers, who must hold out until tho submarines secure the victory." The idea of America playing an effective' part was a phdn-toni."—Aus.-N.Z.-Cable Assn.