Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 73, 2 March 1916, Page 5

Great Britain

THE NEEO FOR ECONOMY. NATIONAL SAVINCS CAMPAIGN. McKENNA'S WEIGHTY WORDS. frTtfTTHT) Prkbb Association.] (Received 9.40 a.m.) London, March 1. A crowded meeting was held at the Guild Hall to inaugurate a national savings campaign. Mr McKenna, in enumerating the national war resources, said that we could borrow externally, but not many nations were able to lend money on goods. If the consumption continued in the ordinary course, there would not be enough goods supplied in the world to make up the immense destruction caused by the war; there were not means in the whole world to supply the Army and Navy with their full requirements unless the Empire's capital and labor, which were now engaged in peace services were diverted to goods for the Army and Navy. It was not a question of money, but a question of the efficiency of our capital and labor to supply all our needs. He urged everyone to take stock of their daily habits, and see how much they could give up without detriment to their powers of work and without sacrificing their obligations to their dependents. ..,', , LORD KITCHENER'S ADVICE. Lord Kitchener, who had a rousing reception, said he wanted the country to realise what it means when he told them that the present war was largely a war of financial and economic exhaustion. "This," he said, "is a war which the whole nation is fighting and spending. As the representative of the army in the field, I want to appeal to the civilian army at Home to play its part strenuously." This is vital to the army in the field, which, cannot last a single day without the efforts of the civilians. ' Whether the army continues to get the vital things in sufficient quantities depends entirely upon whether every man and woman at Home shows the utmost energy in their production, and the utmost eco. nortiy in. consumption. Tf they are not doing this, the civilians are doing something to help our enemies to win. We are bound to take all the. men that possibly can be spared from industry, agriculture, and commence. We want an unceasing supply of munitions of war for ourselves and our Allies." THE CREAT QUESTION. Lord Kitchener, continuing, said: The question is, how can we take millions of men from the workshops, farms, banks, and offices, and yet provide the things the Nation consumes under peace conditions and the vast mass of war material tor ourselves and our Allies 0 If we admit that those left behind are only going to work as hard as before, and that civilians'are going to consume as much food, clothing, and luxuries as before, then the problem will be insoluble. If everyone is going on living as though the times were normal, 'we shall be unable to get the soldiers and munitions we imperatively need to carry through this tremendous task.