PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 152, 16 March 1918, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

. Fifteen large steamers of the British mercantile marine were sunk by the German submarines last week, the largest number since January 9, when eighteen ships were reported as having been sunk. Striking an average for tho quarter, our merchant shipping losses total slightly over twelve large steamers per week, roughly,' 168 vessels of large tonnage. The Times naval correspondent to : day says that the position is serious, and The Times in 'a leading articlo declares that tho tine has como for the nation toface the facts of a critical situation. Tho most material fact of tho situation is that no sovereign remedy has yet. been discovered by means of which the German submarine menace can be definitely reduced. The most that the Allies can hope to do at present is to build sufficient now tonnage to counteract the losses. It is an expensive business, but in the meantime there appears to bo nothing else for it but unremitting vigilance by the Navy, and a speeding up in the shipping yards—bv the grace of Labour.

| ..But it is,as .well...that we should i consider the situation from tho Gcr- ; man .point.of'-vifc,w,.-.When tho Germans on'"January 31 of last year intimated the inauguration of a system of unrestricted submarine piracy they set themselves out to sink a million tons a month. For last August tho German/claim was 808,000 tons, and Sir/Eric Geddes's counter-assertion was a little more -than a third ■of that amount for British shipping and a little more-' than half that amount for shipping of ail nationalities. For September the German claim was 672,000 tens, and Sir- Eric's counter-assertion is "far less" than a third of that amount for British tonnage and less than half that amount for tonnage of all nationalities. And as the months havo passed with steadily reduced sinkings since tho Geddes estimate of early November, tho disparity between German and British claims has obviously increased. "German figures;" observes tho New York Evening I'ost, in a review of the situation, "speak of all nationalities, and. the weekly British figures speak of British losses. In the second place, British figures speak of- net tonnage, that is to say, of ship tonnage, and German figures speak of gross tonnage or cargo capacity, which means an additional 50 per- cent. It may bo that the German method of reckoning in gross tonnage is justified. To say that so much cargo capacity has been lost to the enemy is a reasonable way of arguing. But sine*, we, from the first, have been counting the depletion of tho British mercantile ileet in terms of net tonnage, that is the true index for measuring tho percentage effectiveness of the submarines. On November 1 Sir Eric Geddes said that the net loss in British tonnage on the official register of ocean-going ships over, 1600 tons since tho beginning of the war was million tons; that.is, accounting for new construction."

The monthly figures given out by the German Admiralty as compared with the monthly figures for England, Norway, and the United States, which represent more than two-thirds of the maritime Powers affected by the U-boat campaign, are as follow:— U.S., Norway, and England. German Month. (tons). (tens). February 458.800 781,000 March 431,800 . 885,000 April 747,100 1,001,000 May 405.500 SGO.OOO Juno 473,000 1.010,000 July ...: 453,300 811,000 Aurjust 353.100 808.000 September 345,000 073,000 October 317,000 G74.C00 The figures for the United States, England, and Norway for November and December are 200,300 and 372,900 tons_ respectively. If the three countries that arc used as examples truly' represent two-thirds of the countries affected ky the ravages of the submarines, /it will ho seen at once that the German figures are far above.-;those- of the Allies.

Plus tho German undertaking that a million tons of shipping would be sunk per month • was a definite promise to the war-weary German nation 2 that the certain result of the. policy of unrestricted submarine warfare would be to bring Britain to her knees in from three to six months. This was over a year ago, and Britain is still alive and doggedly determined to wear down the U-boai menace. Further, as Herr Scheideaiann declared in

the German Reichstag, the only noticeable result of the new policy has been the entry of America into the war arena. Captain Persius and other German critics of naval policy have frankly admitted the failure of the unrestricted; policy, which has forced the German General Staff to" seek a decision by. some other means, namely, an offensive on the Western front. iS * * -'f The most effective means of countering the activities of the U-boats are the destroyer, aeroplanes, and the depth bombs, and they have accounted for a large number of pirate submarines. It would certainly be undesirable to publish details of the'means by which the Allies have accomplished the destruction of these sea vermin, but it would servo to maintain our confidence in tho Admiralty if .regular, bulletinsweek by week—could be given of the number of "scalps" taken. Apropos, of.the.measures Which America is taking to co-operate with the Allies in the war against tho submarine, Mr. David Lawrence, tho Washington correspondent of tho Now York Evening Post, says in a recent issue r '"'Tho -progress in the building .of destroyers to.hunt'submarines is such that before the end of the year 1918 the United States will have in action the largest fleet of destroyers in the world—larger, even than that of Great Britain. In. the second place, the, /destroyers which have already been in action

have been steadily bagging submarThe combined operations of the British'and'American destroyer fleets havo been so successful that it can be said the submarine orisis is past. This does not mean that the submarine has ceased to be a menace or that.sinkings have diminished to a point where anyone can be sure that they will not be able to rise to the danger point again, but it does mean that the submarine- is being fought hard and. with appreciable results. And there is all the difference in. the .world, between a fight against; a hopeless situation and one in which the confidence of ultimate victory is deep-rooted." #*■ * «

It is curious, nay amusing, how tho German military party consistently defeats the ends of tho German peace' propagandists. A case in point is tho : situation.in Russia in its effect on the British Labour Party. This party con tains, a fairly large peace clement, especially on the Socialist side, and German intrigue has been at no small pains .to drive the peace wedge in deeper. But the net result of the developments in Russia has been a distinct hardening of the war spirit. The miners, have agreed to the combingout proposals of the Ministry ' of National Service, and the engineers arc now in a.more reasonable mood for compromise on the subject of Sir Auckland Geddes's Man-power Bill. As an indication of flic trend of Labour opinion towards a vigorous prosecution of the war, Mr. Arthur Henderson is reported to-day as saying that it was possiblo that" Prince von Bulow, on behalf of the Central Powers, would say: "We are prepared to recognise the status quo ank helium, make considerable, concessions, in Alsace-Lorraine, adjust the differences with regard to the colonies, but we must bo entirely free to deal with Russia." "Such a cynical peace," said Mr. Henderson, "would contain tho seeds of future'war. We.must stand as flint against deserting Russia. AVe must ; have a peace consistent with the ideals for which we ■ "entered tho war." > -•'