Chapter XIII: British and German Aspirations Compared

In the attempt to justify his opposition to the Canadian armed support of the Allies' cause, Mr. Bourassa repeatedly asserted that Great Britain was as much as Germany aspiring to rule the whole world. He pretends that there is no difference between Anglo-Saxonism and Germanism.

How unjust and dangerous is such a doctrine is evident to any fair minded man. It was no doubt calculated to prejudice the French Canadians against Great Britain, by telling them that the sacrifices they were called upon to make were imposed upon them only to favour the British determination to reach the goal of her ambition:--universal domination.

I strongly repudiated such assertions and vindicated England's course and policy.

To accuse Great Britain to aspire to universal domination is a most unwarranted charge, contradicted by the whole history of the last century during which she was the most determined supporter of peace.

Though one of the great Powers of the world, England never undertook to organize a large standing army. How could she aspire to the world's domination without a complete military organization comprising many millions of men, is what I am unable to understand.

Mr. Bourassa's argument to prove his assertion is based on the efforts of England to maintain and develop her naval forces so as to guarantee her supremacy on the high seas of the world. How he failed to realize that Great Britain, on account of her insular position, close to the European continent, is by nature itself bound, of sheer necessity, to protect herself by the strength of her military naval power, is beyond comprehension. Supremacy on the seas is for the Mother Country a mere question of national existence,--to be or not to be. But supremacy on the seas cannot, and will never, permit England to attain anything like universal domination. And why? For the obvious reason that Great Britain is not, and never can become, a continental Power, in the exact sense of the word.

I explained, conclusively, I believe, that the case would be very different if Germany succeeded in her efforts to supplant England's supremacy on the seas. When the Berlin Government undertook to build a huge military fleet, Germany was the greatest continental military Power. What were her expectations when she adopted that threatening naval policy? The Berlin authorities were very confident that when they would decide to bring on the great war for which they had been strenuously preparing for half a century, they would in a few months have continental Europe at their feet and under their sway. Triumphant over Europe they would have at once dominated Asia and a great part of Africa. The next surest way for the German Empire to reach universal domination was to break England's power on the seas. What is impossible for England to accomplish, on account of her insular position, Germany, being a continental Empire, could achieve if she became mistress of the seas.

The present war is the proof evident that the mighty power of England on the seas has been the salvation of her national existence and, almost equally, that of France and Italy. It kept the oceans open for the trade of all the Allied and neutral nations. He is willingly blind, intellectually, the man who does not see that deprived of the matchless protection of her naval forces, Great Britain could be starved and subdued in a few months by an enemy ruling the waves against her.

Is it possible to suppose that any man aspiring to help moulding the public opinion of his countrymen, ignores that with the relatively small extent of the territory it can devote to agricultural production, Great Britain can never feed her actual population of over forty-five millions, most likely to reach sixty millions in the not very distant future. Consequently how unjust, how extravagant, is it to accuse England of any aspiration to dominate the world by means of the sacrifices she is absolutely bound to make for the only sake of her self-defence, her self-protection.

If he does not know, I will no doubt cordially oblige the "Nationalist" leader by informing him that Great Britain, usually importing food products to the amount of seven to eight hundred millions of dollars, for many years past, required as much as a billion dollars worth of them in the war year of 1915. It is so easy to foresee that the continual increase of the population of the United Kingdom, by the new large developments which will surely follow the war in all industrial, commercial and financial pursuits, will cause a relative increase in the importations of food products likely to reach, and even exceed before long, an average total annual value of a billion and a quarter dollars.

None of the European continental Powers has the same imperious reasons as England to take the proper means to guarantee her control of the seas. How is it then that Germany is the only Power to object to England's policy, if it is not for the ultimate object to attain universal domination by the overthrow of Great Britain's ascendency on the wide oceans, which would permit her to realize her long cherished aim by the combined powerful effort of her gigantic military forces both on land and sea.

With regard to England's naval supremacy, the "Nationalist" leader is also committed to other opinions which I strongly contradicted. He entirely forgets that beyond the sea coast limits, well defined by International Law, no Sovereign rights can be claimed on the high seas. The navigation of the ocean is free to all nations by nature itself. Has any Government ever entertained the foolish idea that the broad Atlantic could, for instance, be divided into so many parts as the European, Asiatic, or American continents, over which several States could exercise Sovereign powers? No Chinese Wall can be built on the seas.

My own view of the case, which I believe to be the correct one, is that England's naval supremacy means nothing more nor less than the police of the seas, and the protection of the flags of all the Nations navigating them, besides being, of course and necessarily, the guarantee of her National existence.

Blind also, intellectually, is the British subject not sufficiently inspired by the true sense of the duties of Loyalty, who does not understand that once Great Britain's maritime power would be crushed and the United Kingdom either conquered or obliged to an humiliating peace which would ruin all her future prospects, the Colonial Empire would equally be at the mercy of the victorious enemy of the Mother Country.

With the most earnest conviction, I have tried, to the best of my ability, to persuade my French-Canadian compatriots of the inevitable dangers ahead if the false views which were so persistingly impressed upon their minds were ever to prevail, and the aim they undoubtedly favour to be realized.

Another argument widely used by our "Nationalist" School to influence the opinion of the French Canadians against Canada's participation in the war, was that Great Britain herself was not doing what she ought to win the victory. I have personally heard this false objection repeated by many--unconsciously of course--who were influenced in so saying by the "Nationalist" press.

No more unfair charge could have been made against England. I could not help being indignant at reading it, knowing as I did, by daily acquired information what an immense effort the United Kingdom had been making, from the very beginning of the hostilities, to play its powerful part in the great war into which it had nobly decided to enter to avenge its honour, to defend the Empire and the whole world against German barbarous militarism.

I have already commented on the immense service guaranteed to the Allied nations by the British fleet. To illustrate the wonderful and admirable military effort of Great Britain, I will quote some very important figures from the most interesting Report of the British War Cabinet, for the year 1917, presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty.

Under the title "_Construction and Supply_" the Report says:--

During the past year the Naval Service has undergone continual
expansion in order to enable it to meet every demand made upon
it, not only in the seas surrounding these islands, but in the
Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Arctic Ocean,
the Pacific, and the Atlantic, where it has co-operated with the
Naval forces of the Allies. The displacement tonnage of the
Royal Navy in 1914 was 2,400,000 tons. To-day it has increased
by 75 per cent.--=(making a total of 4,200,000 tons--)=. The
ships and vessels of all kinds employed in the Naval Service in
September, 1914, after the whole of the mobilisation had been
completed, had a tonnage of just over 4 million; now the figure
is well over 6 million. Transports, fleet attendants and
overseas oilers and similar auxiliary vessels at the outbreak of
war numbered 23; the Admiralty to-day control nearly 700 such
craft. The strength of the personnel, which was 145,000, has
been increased to 420,000.

From these brief particulars regarding the ships and their
manning, an estimate can be formed of the expansions that have
been made in the auxiliary services, such as guns, torpedoes,
munitions, and stores of all kinds, anti-submarine apparatus,
mines, &c., and some idea is gained of the demands that have
been made upon the great army of workers on shore, the men in
the Royal dockyards and arsenals, in the shipyards, the engine
shops, and the factories, without whose help the Fleet could not
be maintained as a fighting force.

As regards warship and auxiliary ship construction, the output
during the last 12 months has been between three and four times
the average annual output for the few years preceding the war.

The Admiralty now control all the dry docks in the
country,...--250 merchant ships are being repaired each week,
either in dry dock or afloat.

Since the beginning of the war, 31,470 British war vessels have
been placed in dock or on the slips =(--as many as 225 being
repaired in one week--)=.... These figures do not include repair
work carried out to the vessels of our Allies....

The Transport Service is of the highest importance in carrying on the war. What has been the achievement of England on that score? Under the title:--"_Transportation_" the War Cabinet Report proves its immensity as follows:--

The record of what has been done by the transport services for
the Armies of the Allies shows a stupendous amount of work
accomplished, which constitutes one of the brilliant
achievements of the war. There had been transported overseas up
till the end of August, 1917, the last date for which complete
statistics are available--some:--13 million human
beings--combatants, wounded, medical personnel, refugees,
prisoners, &c.; 2 million horses and mules; 1/2 million vehicles;
25 million tons of explosive and supplies for the armies; ... 51
million tons of coal and oil fuel for the use of our Fleets, our
Armies, and to meet the needs of our Allies.

The operations of the seas are on such a large scale that it is
difficult to realize all that is involved in sea transportation;
for example, over 7,000 personnel are transported, and more than
30,000 tons of stores and supplies have to be imported daily
into France for the maintenance of our own army. About 567
steamers, of approximately 1-3/4 million tons, are continually
employed in the service of carrying troops and stores to the
Armies in France and to the forces in various theatres of war in
the East.

We all know that the Berlin Government expected that the submarine campaign would result in an early final victory for the Central Empires. Herr von Bethmann Hollweg, then the Imperial Chancellor, said:--"_The Blockade must succeed within a limited number of weeks, within which America cannot effectively participate in the operations_."

How he was mistaken, and extravagant were his expectations, events have proved. This sentence is also proof evident that he realized how effective the United States effort would become, if the submarine campaign did not succeed within a few weeks.

The iniquitous submarine campaign, re-opened early in the year 1917, "_added materially to the responsibilities of the Navy. To meet this new and serious menace drastic steps had to be taken to supplement those adopted in the previous December and January_."

The Report adds:--

A large number of new destroyers have been built and at the same
time auxiliary patrol services have been expanded enormously so
as to deal with the nefarious submarine and minelaying methods
of the enemy. Before the outbreak of the war there were under 20
vessels employed as minesweepers and on auxiliary patrol duties.
To-day the number of craft used for these purposes at home and
abroad is about 3,400, and is constantly increasing.

* * * * *

A new feature of the means adopted for the protection of trade
against submarines has been a return to the convoy system as
practised in bygone wars. It has been markedly effective in
reducing the losses. During the last few months over 90 per
cent. of all vessels sailing in all the Atlantic trades were
convoyed....

The Royal Naval Air Service at the outbreak of war possessed a
personnel of under 800; at the present moment the numbers
approach 46,000 and are continually increasing.... Mention must
also be made of the great value of the air services in combating
the submarine menace round our coasts.... Illustrating their
extent it may be stated that in one week the aircraft patrol
round the British coasts alone flies 30,000 miles.

The general result of the German attack, therefore, though
serious enough, is far from unprecedented. In the two years
after Trafalgar, when our command of the sea was unquestioned,
we still lost 1,045 merchant ships by capture, and in the whole
period from 1794 to 1875 we lost over 10,000 merchant ships.

Nor should we lose sight of the very heavy losses sustained by
the enemy in the present war. At the commencement of
hostilities, Germany had 915 merchant ships abroad, of which
only 158 got home safely; the remainder within a few days were
cleared from the oceans, either captured or driven to shelter in
neutral ports. In the aggregate the German Mercantile Marine
consisted of over 5 million tons of shipping; at the present
time nearly half of this has been sunk or captured by ourselves
or our Allies, while the bulk of the rest is lying useless in
harbour.

Let me now refer to the military effort of Great Britain. Under the title:--"_Strength of the Army," &c._, the War Cabinet Report gives the following most inspiring figures.

The effort which the British nations have made under the one
item of "Provision of Men for the Armed Forces of the Crown"
amounts to not less than 7,500,000 men, and of these 60.4 per
cent. have been contributed by England, 8.3 per cent. by
Scotland, 3.7 per cent. by Wales, 2.3 per cent. by Ireland, 1.2
per cent. by the Dominions and the Colonies, while the
remainder, 13.3 per cent., composed of native fighting troops,
labour corps, carriers, &c., represent the splendid contribution
made by India and our various African and other Dependencies.

* * * * *

=Royal Artillery.=--The personnel of the Royal Artillery
increased 17.6 per cent., between August, 1916, and August,
1917.

In the first nine months of 1917 the supply of modern
anti-aircraft guns in the field increased 44 per cent., that of
field guns 17 per cent., of field-howitzers 26 per cent., of
heavy guns 40 per cent., of medium howitzers 104 per cent., of
heavy howitzers 16 per cent., and of heavy-guns on railway
mountings 100 per cent.; these last have an increased range of
about 35 per cent.... We have also supplied large numbers of
heavy guns and trench mortars to our Allies in different
theatres of war.

* * * * *

The Medical Service has continued to expand with the growth of
the Army and its strength is now largely in excess of our whole
original Expeditionary Force.... More than 17,000 women are
employed as nurses and over 28,000 others are engaged in
military hospitals on various forms of work.... Hospitals in the
United Kingdom now number more than 2,000.

* * * * *

The health of the troops in the United Kingdom is actually
better than the peace rate; the same is the case in France,
excluding admissions to hospital by reason of wounds.

The above quoted figures prove that out of a total of 7,500,000 men for the Armed Forces of the British Crown, Great Britain--the United Kingdom--had contributed, at the end of last year, 5,625,000, out of which number the shore of England and Wales amounted to 4,800,000. The British Colonial Empire's contribution had been 1,875,000.

At the date of the current year--August, 1918--I am writing, I can safely calculate that the number of men for the Armed Forces of the British Crown--using the words of the Official Report above quoted--has reached, at least, _the grand and magnificent total of 8,000,000_. The percentage of respective contributions of the United Kingdom and the Colonial Empire no doubt remaining the same, the relative number of each of them is,--for the United Kingdom 6,000,000; for the Colonies 2,000,000.

I consider the War Cabinet Report of 1917 so interesting, so encouraging, that my readers will, I am confident, kindly bear with me in a few more very important quotations, the full Report itself having had only a very limited circulation in Canada.

TRANSPORT.

In addition to the prodigious Naval effort of England, both military and mercantile, previously illustrated, Great Britain has most powerfully contributed to the fighting operations on land by an immense improvement in transportation facilities by railway construction in all British theatres of war.

The Report says:--

In all these theatres railways have come to play a more and more
important part. In France a vast light railway system has been
created, involving the supply during the present year of
approximately 1,700 miles of track and the whole of the
equipment.... Exclusive of these light railway systems, the
total amount of permanent railway track supplied complete to all
theatres of war is about 3,600 miles. In Egypt the railway
crossing the desert from the Suez Canal has now reached and
passed Gaza. In Mesopotamia the rapid and successful movements
of our troops have only been made possible by the construction
of a whole series of lines since the beginning of 1917. The
development of road-building has been on a similar scale, and
the shipments of material, equipment and stores for these two
purposes during the last nine months have averaged 200,000 tons
a month. Much labour has also been spent in the organisation of
an Overland Line of Communication through France and Italy to
the Mediterranean in order to save shipping. This line was
opened for personnel traffic in June, 1917, and for goods
traffic early in August.

* * * * *

In France the conveyance of supplies of all kinds to our armies
along the French rivers and canals is performed by a large fleet
of tugs, barges, and self-propelled barges. The fleet thus
employed in France consists of over 700 vessels, and the tonnage
carried by it averages over 50,000 tons per week.

THE AIR SERVICE.

In a recital indicating generally what steps have been taken in matters of administration and control, the Report says:--

From the point of view of defence, the new arm presented
problems pregnant with at least equal importance. The proud and
ancient inviolability of these islands was being challenged in a
new and startling fashion, and the seriousness of the problem
was added to by the fact that the geographical position of the
capital of the Empire rendered it particularly inviting to
attack from the air.

Respecting the supply of Aircraft, the Report says that:--

In endeavoring to describe the measures taken to meet the
aircraft needs of the Navy and Army, the writer is at once
confronted by the fact that the information desired by the
country is precisely the information desired by the enemy. What
the country wants to know is what has been the expansion in our
Air Services; whether we have met and are meeting all the
demands of the Navy and of the Army, both for replacement of
obsolete machines by the most modern types, and for the increase
of our fighting strength in the air; what proportion of the
national resources in men, material and factories is being
devoted to aviation; what the expansion is likely to be in the
future. These are precisely the facts which we should like to
know with regard to the German air service, and for that reason
it would be inadmissible for us to supply Germany with
corresponding information about ourselves by publishing a
statement on the subject.

It can be said that the expansion of our Air Services is keeping
pace generally with the growing needs of the Navy and the Army.

In Chapter VIII, under the heading:--"_The Ministry of Munitions in 1917_," the following is read:--

The number of persons engaged in the production of munitions in
October, 1917, was 2,022,000 men and 704,000 women, as compared
with 1,921,000 men and 535,000 women in January. They have thus
been increased during the past six months at the rate of 11,000
men and 19,000 women per month. These numbers include those
employed in Government and in private establishments, in the
principal munition industries, chemical and explosive trades,
engineering and munition plants, furnaces and foundries, in
shipbuilding and in mining other than coal-mining. The total
represents approximately two-thirds of the total labour occupied
on Government work in industry.

The preceding official statistics prove most conclusively that actually, and ever since the beginning of the third year of the war, more than _twelve millions_ of men and women--more than the fourth of the total population of the United Kingdom--have been either in the Armed Forces of the British Crown--Navy and Army--or in the shipbuilding yards, in munitions factories, in transportation on land and sea, in the Medical Service, in the Air Service, &c., employed for the success of the cause of the Allies.

THE FINANCIAL EFFORT OF GREAT BRITAIN.

The gigantic military effort of Great Britain, in all the branches of its wonderfully developed organization, as above illustrated, was only rendered possible by a corresponding financial contribution.

During the financial year preceding the outbreak of the war, the total expenditure of the Government of Great Britain was $987,464,845. The hostilities have imposed upon the United Kingdom vast expenditures. "For that period"--again quoting the War Cabinet Report--"from the 1st April, 1917, to the 1st December, 1917, the total Exchequer issues for expenditure (including Consolidated Fund Service and Supply Services) were L1,799,223,000,--($8,796,115,000) representing a daily average for that period of L7,344,000 ($36,720,000)."

At this rate of expenditure, the total for the year equals at least $13,500,000,000. But the financial charges entailed by the war being constantly on the increase, they can be calculated at a daily average of no less than $40,000,000 until the close of the conflict.

England has not only incurred very heavy financial obligations, met both by an enormously increased taxation and the issue of large National loans, to pay the cost of her own war expenditure, but she has also generously helped her friends whose financial resources were not so abundant as her own. To the 1st December, 1917, she had made advances to the Allies amounting to no less than $5,930,000,000. In addition to this large amount, the advances she had made to the Dominions for the same period summed up $875,000,000.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF DOMINION, COLONIAL AND INDIAN TROOPS.

Under the above title, the War Cabinet Report concludes a general review of the past year's effort by paying high tribute to the value of the services rendered by the whole British Colonial Empire, in the following elogious terms:--

In the above sketch of military operations during the past year,
it has not been possible to distinguish between the particular
services rendered by the various nations and nationalities of
the Empire. But it must not be forgotten that during the war the
forces of the Crown have become welded into a true Imperial
army, representative of every part of the world-wide British
Commonwealth, and a brief note may be included as to the special
services of the various overseas forces.

The share of the Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, South
African and Newfoundland contingents in the successes of the
1917 campaign are well known. The capture of Vimy Ridge in
April, the prolonged and bitter fighting around Lens during the
whole summer and autumn, and the capture of Passchendaele were
carried out by the Canadian Corps, which has thus proved itself
as excellent in offensive as its splendid defence of Ypres in
1915 had shown it to be in defensive fighting. The New Zealand
and Australian contingents have corresponding achievements to
their credit in their share of the battle of Messines and in the
long sustained and bitterly contested fights in the Ypres
salient from July to November. The South African brigade
sustained the brilliant reputation which it won last year at
Delville Wood by the devoted services it rendered on the
battlefields of Arras and Ypres. Finally, the Newfoundland
Regiment took a glorious and costly part in the same two
battles. The troops of all the Dominions have shown themselves
throughout the campaign of 1917 to have maintained the historic
standards of the British Army and have been worthy rivals of the
United Kingdom troops in every military effort and achievement.

This testimony to the services rendered by the Dominions would
not be complete without some reference to the part played by
South Africa in German East Africa, where her troops have borne,
under the brilliant leadership of General Van Deventer, a
conspicuous share in a peculiarly arduous campaign.

The smaller Colonies and Protectorates have naturally been
unable to play so great and conspicuous a part in the World War,
but in their own spheres they have contributed their full share
to the military effort of the Empire. Labour and fighting troops
were freely drawn upon for the Mesopotamian and East African
theatres. West Africa, British East Africa, Uganda, Nyasaland
and Rhodesia have all sent contingents to fight in German East
Africa. 16,000 men from the West Indies have been sent across
the Atlantic; and labour corps from the Eastern Colonies have
been sent to the Mesopotamian and East African fronts, and,
despite unfavourable conditions, to the Western theatre. A large
number of individuals from overseas possessions, such as the
Malay States and Hong Kong, have also joined the Imperial
forces.

Finally, India's contribution, both in man-power, material and
money, has steadily increased throughout the year. India has
taken a very important share in the victorious campaign in
Mesopotamia. The great majority of the troops in this theatre of
war are Indian. They have fully sustained the high reputation of
the Indian Army for gallantry and endurance. India has been
responsible for much of the supply, medical and transportation
system by water and on land. Indian forces have also rendered
conspicuous service in France, Egypt and East Africa. The
question of the supply of officers, especially medical officers,
has been solved; commissions have been granted to Indians, and a
voluntary Indian Defence Force is now being organised and
trained. Special mention should be made of the loyal and
effective assistance of the Indian ruling princes and chiefs,
from the smallest to the greatest.

The Indian Government has moreover generously contributed $500,000,000 towards the cost of the war.

The foregoing quotations of official figures, of facts undeniable, of achievements really most extraordinary, constitute the unanswerable refutation, complete and crushing, of the Nationalist charge that England, while not doing her own duty with regard to the war, was using undue influence to coerce the British Colonies to participate in the conflict far beyond the fair proportionate effort to be expected on their part; that an illegitimate pressure of Great Britain's Government on her Colonies was being practised, as insidiously alleged, to promote her Imperialist ambition of the World's ascendency.

Unfortunately, those false and most unjust notions had taken deeper root in many minds, even in some who should have been much above such an unfair misconception, than was at first supposed. Hence the importance of setting the matter right, and the necessity of proving that England's war achievements, in every branch of the Military Service, were far exceeding what had, at first, been expected of her, and was ever considered possible. British pluck and manliness were equal to the direst emergency that ever called them forth. Patriotism, courage, determination, perseverance, rising superior to any increased difficulties, have truly worked miracles of manly efforts and self-sacrifices inspired by the noble cause which brought Great Britain in the World's struggle.