ENGLAND REVIVED.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 July 1917, Page 6

ENGLAND REVIVED.

A MARVEL OF ENERGY. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S VIEWS AX ILLUMINATING INTERVIEW. Wellington Post Correspondent. London, May 4. St Joseph Ward had (been so frequently in England before thait there is a particular interest in the views which he has formed during his six months' so]pnm and work under war conditions. Remembering the rather pessimistic view which Sir Joseph held when he was last here, in 15113, of the morale of the Old Country, T asked him if he cared to comment on that in the light of what has happened since. He replied: "Yes, when I was here last there .was a distinctly marked atmosphere of easiness and lethargy in regard to the national welfare. In fact. I felt strongly then that the condition of England Was not calculated to cnaible the Old Country to put forth its best strength in ease of any great emergency. I am, therefore, more than glad to -be ab!e to say that the exigencies of the war have to my mind brought about a complete transformation. There is now apparent everywhere a vitality and effective energy which speak in'tho mast eloquent manner for the future. It is a great and growing asset, and is going to be of tremendous value -for the whole Empire. The gigantic, struggle in which we are engaged has taught everyone the lesson of unpreparedness, and I feel sure that England will never be caught again in the position she was in at the beginning of this war. What has been done by the people (here since they were aroused to a sense of their power is simply marvellous. They may have been slow to move, Ibut there is no doubt that, having moved, they have done it with singular effectiveness in every direction. In the new hives of industry that have been created, a great proportion of the women, and very many men, too, 3 re people who ,beforc~the /war, had done little or nothing of a practical nature. What is toeing done is evidence of the value of well-directed organisation. IDLE ACRES UTILISED. "In an unparalleled short period they have brought into utilisation, as soon as they were faced with the necessity, a vast acreage of land that had been allowed to remain idle for years. They are to be seen everywhere—well-tilled allotments sown with vegetables of all kinds and wide acres of fallow and meadow land under wheat, potatoes, and other necessary crops. It takes some doing to galvanise into life a large population which has never had anything to do with these particular pursuits. The Tcsponse of the financial world, again, to the invitations of tho Chancellor of the Exchequer has been stupendous. In faot, as I am dictating to you, the one dark spot on the horizon is the German submarine menace. THE SUBMARINE CRISIS. "As it has been described to me by practical men, tho new German submarine appears to be a wonderful piece of mechanism. There are loud tirades against the Admiralty and the Navy on the part off people who are ignorant of the actual position, but I can assure you there has been no negligence or indifference. The plain fact is that the new German submarine has created a puzzle calling for the concentrated wisdom of the greatest scientists of the Allies to circumvent it. It can sight its intended prey through the periscope at a distance of five miles or more, at which range, of course, even the periscope is very difficult to detect from a ship. The submarine then sinks belcw the surface, and proceeds under water for a distance of a couple of miles or to towards its prey The torpedo is discharged without even the periscope appearing, the direction olf the target having been fixed at the five-mile distance. The. U-boats can, in fact, operate ouite out of sight. It is a most powerful menace and presents an entirely new problem to our experts. "The sinking of British and neutral tonnage in the new submarine campaign has been phenomenal. At the same time, despite the new difficulties of combating them 1 , quite a lot of submarines have ibeen sent to the bottom. I have, of coiirsc, a good deal of information that cannot ibe disclosed, but I am warranted in saying definitely that the Germans have been building a greater numlbsr of ne»\v submarines weekly than they have lost. Undoubtedly, the real peril at tho moment lies in that direction, and this knowledge, has accentuated i.he great efforts that are being made in the British Isles to increase and preserve the food supply, i.iore especially wheat, so as to protect the people from starvation during tho next three months. By that" time they will be reaping the harvest, not only from their normal acreage, but frcm the vast new acreages I havo referred to. 'T feel confident that the people of Great Britain will not reach thepoint of starving, ibut nevertheless, within a few weeks there is bound to !bc a_ further limitation in the consumption of certain articles, until the point of safety has been reached." THE SHIPPING PROBLEM Sir Joseph has been very much struck by the results, already apparent, of the State organisation of shipbuilding. "Not only are the yards of Great Britain turning out tonnage at an unprecedented rate, but several enormous building contracts, Tunning into'many millions of money, have been let both in the United States and in Japan. There is a double purpose In this, primarily, of course, it i:; to replace the tonnage which is toeing sent to the bottom every week, and to°meet the necessities of war transport: But (behind this is the abject of enalbling the country to toe ready to carrv on its normal trade—which will be necessarily much increased—as soon as the war is over. The probability is that the end of the war will see Great Bri; tain—the greatest carrying Power _ in the world—with a mercantile marine some millions of tons short of normal requirements. It is calculated by those best qualified to judge that it will be full) five years after peace before we can''be in possession of the tonnage requisite for the commercial needs of the Empire and our Allies. Our carrying capacity 'will toe tested to .the utmost, for over large areas of the countries of our Allies the devastation is complete. They are. denuded of practically every article you can name; railways and'machinery of all kinds have been smashed up; and there will 'be a tremendous amount of restoration to toe done. „ „.„ RAILWAY MIRACLES. "The railways of France, Russia, Beljßhm,«ad Kfti}[, a?d a great portion of

those of England', have teen run to death. They are in a condition of wear And tear such as has never existed in the history of railways. Tiie mechanics, who, before the war, manned the extensive work-shops, for rapairs and replacements, have ibeen diverted to war work exclusively, and they cannot get back to their original occupations until the iwar is over. The railways have been carrying constant and excessive traffic for war purposes. Moreover, people will be astonished to hear, when the history of Ibe war eoines to be written, how m'any miles of railway have been supplied to France by taking up 'tracks, rolling stock, and staff complete, tooth from this country and from Canada, and transporting them to France, where it is "essential that sup-ply-lines and strategic lines should toe as plentiful and efficient as possible. One of the great assets of the Germans on the Western Front has been the wonderful railway system of Belgium and Northern France, w.liich was very largely designed for special war purposes. AFTER-WAR OUTLOOK. "One of the first things we are anxious to do after the war, is to reduce sea-freights to the most reasonable proportions, so that producers and manufacturers will get the full benefit, of distribution. In my mind, there will have to be a revolution in the shipping world. It will not be without ita difficulties. For some years, owing to the demand ifor replacement of machinery, to which I have already referred, the cost of shipbuilding (will remain abnormally high; and, moreover, there will have to ibe a considerable increase of traffic provided for the 'British authorities have not lost sight of this prctolem, but it is a gigantic one, and it calls for co-opcrationi, courage and fixity of policy. There arc two factor* which must ; bc recognised. The United IS!|ajtes and Japan have become so wealthy by the phenomenal trade -which they have enjoyed for the last year or two with comparatively no war expenditure, that they will be in some respects superior to the heart of the British Empire, and better placed to embark upon great policies of shipbuilding and other industries. Both countries have already added very greatly ito their shipbuilding plants, .so that they approach more nearly to the proportions of the industry in the Old Country before the war. Restoration in the devastated countries will csJI for supplies of material which cannot be met in the continent of Europe, and there will Ibe great oversea trade on this account. The splendid maimer in which the Old land has been galvanised into activity will enable lier to 'be more than she iltas ever done before. It seems to me, moreover, that there will ibe an active and continuous market for the food-producing '.ountries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These are a" (few of the results of the maniac upheaval brought about by the ruler of one country and | Ills advisers with the ctojeet of becoming the dominant Power of the world. It is certain that this (will not tnki? place. The cost in blood and treasure of preventing it may be regarded as very great, (but it is not excessive for the' advantages thait posterity will gain. It is certain, however, that there must be some recognised system of preventing, in (the future, any ruler or set of men from precipitating such a calamity."