FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1917. BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1917, Page 4

FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1917. BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.

Events have moved so rapidly during the war that we have almost lost sight of the fact that when the outbreak of hostilities occurred the Motherland was practically without the means of equipping even the small army she ilaced in the field. With the growth of the army it seemed as if nothing tout a miracle would provide the necessary munitions, and those who have followed the development process cannot fail to regard it as miraculous. Speaking at Dundee early in the present week, Mr. Lloyd George was a/ble to state that Britain now possessed such a reserve of munitions thalfc whatever the German submarines might do, they could not deprive us of the necessary stocks for successfully prosecuting the war. In August, !1914, Britain's ammunition needs were served iby three Government factories and a few armament) firms. To-day so great are the reserves that th? enormous expenditure in France factories have (been diverted to other work. What happened in the interval affords material for one of the most wonderful stories in the annals of any nation. Faced with: an emergency in which the very existence of the Empire was at stake the people of the Motherland, in millions, bent their lacks to the task of creating a new industrial era that could alono save the situation, the critical nature of which was demonstrated "by Mr. Lloyd George's comment, made nearly a year since, on the statement made by Mr. Montague of the increases in output. "When," said the Premier, "I think of the chances the Germans hid last year, and did not take, I am full of gratitude"—and every citizen of the Empire should re-echo that sentiment. It is the munition workers who have rehabilitated Britain's might and prestige and every man and woman of this vast host of national workers should share in the credit of the Ibrilliant victories obtained 'by our soldiers "by means of the adequate supply of .-dnitions. It must not be forgotten that much of the work was unprecedented and unfamiliar to the r— : ority of the new industrial army, for it included aeroplanes of the latest type, submarines, tanks, steel netting and a variety of other appliances devised for warfare. Moreover, it was not only necessary to supply British requirements, but also Russia, Italy, Rouinania, Belgium, and (Serbia, while owing to France being deprived (by the enemy) of her iron and coal fields she was largely dependent for steel on Britain and America. Wtten it is considered that ■ before the war the output of steel in Britain was only seven million tons as compared with Germany's seventeen million the nature of the handicap will in some, measure be realised, 'but Britain's output is now ten millions and still on the rise. Meanwhile the Imperial army grew to twenty times the- size of the pre-war footing, and yet, in spite of all labor troubles and Hie hea.vy drain on man power, Britain has sfchieved the most remarkable industrial triumph of any age and we are justly proud that the honor arising from tihis work is chiefly due to the women. Heretofore women have been honored as angels of mercy and *«sk war ha& shown how fitting was the eulogy, for never have they been called upon in such nuttfbers to minister to the wounded and dying, but henceforth they will also rank as national heroines who in the time of stress bravely donned the garments of

industry and worked heart and soul to produce munitions as well as take the place of men in numerous avocations who were urgently needed for the tiring lin< Thus they achieved two most vital objects—the production of munitions and the release of men for the aormy—'both of which are vital factors in ■winning the war. The men and women of the Empire, and especially of the Motherland, have nobly risen to meet the emergency, with the result that to-day the outlook for victory lias never been more encouraging, and victory at far less cost than could have been possible ; but for the ample store of munitions. This wonderful industrial development is not a mere transient phase of national life to end with the close of the war. It is the opening of a new era in which the Empire will grow to greater strength and prosperity, for Ave have learned that we can do without foreign commodities, so that after peace is declared Britain and the Dominions will be aJble to enter upon 'a still larger field of industrial enterprise in which the resources of the Empire will be systematically utilised, while most of the old class pj-ejudJses will be found to have (become extinct. There can be no return to pre-war conditions. The ordeal we are passing through has brought out all that is best in the men and women of the Empire so that we may justly view the futoe with the utmost confidence.