BRITAIN'S GREAT NEED.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 724, 25 November 1914, Page 7

BRITAIN'S GREAT NEED.

WANT OF EQUIPMENT,

This war is s war not only of men, but of things. Things also go to war. The men do splendid deeds, but it is the things that make their deeds possible, and we shell misunderstand this struggle completely, and much that lies before U3 in this struggle, if we let ourselVts suppose that it needs only a response on the pari; of the men to recruiting.

A greater need is for g6ar, hoardings, taxi-cabs, the post office, and newspaper clamour, "Your King and country need you" to every ablebodied man. Much more ia that true of every warm blanket, every overcoat, every flannel shirt, every stout pair of bootß or socks, every service revolver, every pound note in cur pockets. Much more for recruits to offer themselves abundantly, but gear hss to be made and got together and bought, and has to be paid for.

I doubt if the people have begun to reckon the strain of that, or of how much they may serve their country by enlisting their property and their possessions. For let there be no mistake about the opening stages.of this war. All the initial successes of Germany were successes of gear. In the artillery and transport of every sort of supplies Germany was overwhelmingly at th 9 advantage, and the great march that came so near Paris was far more a triumph of boots and tyres than of men.

Germany was at tho outset also superior in the numbers of her flying machines. I have pointed out and expressed ray conviction that the German makes so inferior an aviator to the Englishman or Frenchman that ultimately these, latter would "bully the Germans out of the sky." This is--already happening. The first news of tha British aviators from General French confirmed my very obvioua rfcmarks in a previous article about the need for a larger supply of these most essential weapon?, and my congratulations upon the recent energy of our aviation wing. Somebody's toes were trodden on in that paragraph, since it cracked like rifle fir? through tha press and technical papers declaring that the report of General French had completely disposed of my "hysterics.'' I am not ashamed to sound a high note in a thing so urgent. I would rather crack my voice and reputation than see this matter neglected now. It will be most" lamentable if the brilliant performances of the men we have and the reassurance of interested experts produces national complacency in this matter, when the meed for mors machines and better machines, training more men and constant inventiveness, is a thing of supreme urgency.

In this war of material it is Germany and Russia only that seem to have been fully equipped for a struggle of tha magnitude of the present war. Russia had her surprise and ianmed hsr lsssan from Japan in 1904.

When the Kaiser donned his shining armour on behalf of Austria the Russian armour gleamed even brighter than the German. It is astonishingly new and complete. We in England were also prepared, to tho last button, indeed, most admirably for tha Expeditionary Force and with our Indian Army. We have ample stores on hand for the size of our army, but now the ask before us is not only to beep up our equipment to the level of our recruiting, but also to do everything else in our power to supplement the Ibesst productive power of our present and potential allies. Our part at sea is only one side of our national duty. I dare not write about our British manhood at'war except to say that I am proud to be English. But wa must show our ability to put our flannel shirts by the million, rugs, wraps, waterproofs, boots, rifles and ammunition to the battle line. This h not perhaps so glorious a task as ruling all the s3as, but it is equally essential to victory.

No doubt Germans, on their Bide, are pouring out supplies from ten thousand busy workshops, but, with our uninvaded country, we shall beat them at that. They are also making all sort.B of guns and queer war en* gines at those might works at Essen. Happily, that quality of docility and obedience in which Germans excel carries with it a lack of quick inventiveness that distinguishes both the French unofficial and English intelligence. Yet I can. feel it in my bones the tremendous industry, tremendous straining, the uninspired systematic German ingenuity that are going on. They are certainly constructing Zeppelins larger, and improved; but Zeppelins are a teutonic illusion. They will be no trouble to aviators with bomb 3or light guns firing explosive shells.

The Germans will also try to make bigger and bigger guns, and I suspect they will build up their gurs on vast pedrail wheels to go over soft ground, and so convert them into skid-like ironclads.

They are also probably turning all the river Rhine banks, from Bonn to Weste, into a diabolical network of traps and obstacles against future attacks by allied armies, which they foresee. Incidentally, they are using up no end of stuff, but we have to reckon with this German passion for preparation; we have to keep pace with Essen. Now we have not only to keep pace with Essen, but as Boon as possible we have to get Essen, and smash up Es>en for ever. Westphalia, and not Berlin, is the vital target in this Western war on material, for it is at this centre of manufacture, and not at the centre of government, that a hostile army must strike to end the war.