The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1918 WHAT CAN AMERICA DO?

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 352, 12 February 1918, Page 2

The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1918 WHAT CAN AMERICA DO?

"We nothing extenuate, nor tet down auaht in malice."

President Wilson recently gave the world the statement that the critical and deciding stage of the great war was at hand, and that the Allies should concentrate all their strength and energies upon the coming great test of military and naval strength in the early spring. Mr Wilson drove home his statements with the assurance that America was out to prosecute the war relentlessly until final and complete victory was attained. Simultaneously, Mr Lloyd George I while admitting candidly that the position was critical, said we must "Go on or go under," and the German peace overtures were ignored. It is openly admitted that the loss of Russia to the Allies has been a serious set-back, that it has completely altered the military aspect on the Eastern front, and enabled Germany to throw her whole strength on the Western front. In these circumstances it is interesting to conjecture what the position and prospects of the Allies would have been had the United Stales not joined them when she did. Accredited military authorities at Home now recognise that both the Central Powers aad the Entente armies have all practically fought themselves to a standstill. It is at this timely juncture that America, with her entirely fresh and well-equipped armies, appears upon the scene. From every direction she is being looked to to inflict a crushing blow upon the enemy, and turn the scale in favour of the Allies, and the question voiced on all sides is "What can America do?"

I America is doiug big things, and she is doing them in typical American style, with characteristic cuteness and originality, and she is ''getting there" all the time. Recently came the news that the steamer Leviathan, of 54,282 tons—formerly the Ham-burg-American liner Vaterland—had arrived at a European port with thousands of American soldiers. Despite the U-boats, the American Army is getting to France. This does not mean that the German .submarines are less active, but rather that the Allies' convoy ships are more watchful and more successful in their methods of combat tine; the danger. It Is a remarkable tribute to our Navy, and also to our

mercantile marine, that since the ' war began only nine transports hare been lost, the casualties aggregating 2000, whilst something like 16,000,0D0 effectives have been carried to and fro. The fact that close on 250,000 troops have often been afloat on a single day is a striking testimony to the influence of sea-power ; and it must be gall and wormwood to Admiral von Tirpitz and his crew to know that they have a High Seas Fleet " in being," and yet are unable to use it to prevent this colossal transportation of troops. Apparently 3,000,000 men have been transported across the sea since October last, because in that month Mr Lloyd George stated that since the beginning of the war the Navy had ensured the safe transportation of 13,000,000 men belonging to the British and Allied armies, in addition to 2,000,000 horses, 25,000,000 tons of explosives and supplies, and 51,000,000 tons of coal and oil. Now the number of men transported has reached the gigantic total of 16,000,000.