The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER MONDAY, MAY 17, 1915. MEN AND MUNITIONS WANTED.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 14, 17 May 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER MONDAY, MAY 17, 1915. MEN AND MUNITIONS WANTED.

It lias been we]l said that Germany deliberately began the great war with an immense initial advantage, possessing, as it has been expressed, "an army perfectly equipped to the buttons on its gaiters," and ready to strike. Xo other nation had desired war or anticipated war. Xo other nation was ready for war. The first rush of the enemy, which was not stayed until they had almost readied the walls of Paris, was the triumph of foresight and preparation. Since war began Great Britain has been obliged to improvise an army and to prepare its equipment. There has been no difficulty in finding recruits, and their zeal lias made it possible for their training to proceed at double the usual pace. The call on the armament factories has not been equally satisfactory. Orders have not been completed to time. Slack work has been too evident in some factories. Some workmen have entirely ignored the national obligation that rests on their shoulders, and have been concerned only with their immediate interests. Lord Kitchener and other leaders have admitted that the supply of war material is causing serious anxiety. The duration of the war now largely depends on the men working in arsenals and ammunition factories. The more they speed up the quicker the war will come to an end. Theirs is a heavy responsibility, and it is made the heavier when it is remembered that every month of war means adding to the tragic number of victims of widows and fatherless children. We believe there is evidence that the cold-blooded murder of the hapless hundreds on board the Lusitania and the brutal bombing of undefended towns on the English eoast has awakened the British workman to a better sense of his duty to himself and to his country. It is not a time for any one of us in any corner of the British Empire to say: "Have we done enough?" but straining every effort to ask: "How much more can we do towards the speedy crushing of this devilish German militarism-'"