dented scandal; they have wrung from Belgium, which seemed to have already reached the limit of the afflictions of a nation at war, a cry of anguish which has caused an echo of horror and indignation from the neutral States. Although in 1863 the Instructions for the Armies in the Field, published for the use of the American troops, noted even then that deportation and reduction to servitude of the civil population of conquered States by the conqueror were no longer practiced except among barbaric hordes, the spectacle has been seen in Belgium of the regular army of a powerful empire employed in carrying out me TH Belgium's New War Industries HE Belgian Army in 1917 is making its own cannon, its own rifles, its own shells, its own transport wagons, its own saddles and harness. After the heroic battle of the Yser in 1914 it had six divisions of infantry and two divisions of cavalry left to hold a line of approximately eighteen miles, or just about four men to the yard of front; a front where particular vigilance is required because of the German tactics of constant trial attacks. No part of the Allies' line is more closely watched and explored by the enemy's patrols. A weak spot anywhere would provoke an immediate offensive. Belgium lost all her manufacturing establishments and all her resources in raw materials in the defeat of the Allies at Charleroi and in the retreat from Antwerp, yet M. de Broqueville, Minister of War, with Belgian ingenuity, skill, and perseverance, has built up on the hospitable soil of France artillery and munitions establishments that not only enable the Belgian Army to reply shot for shot to the Germans on the Yser front but also contribute to the armament and supplies of the allied armies. It was to the United States that M. de Broqueville looked immediately after the termination of the heroic defense of Belgian soil on the Yser for the reconstitution of Belgian industry. Specialists Specialists were sent to purchase American machine tools for the manufacture of everything the army needed, and when the machines arrived mechanics released from military service were ready to operate them. Fourteen thousand workmen are today employed in those establishments. The invasion found the Belgian Army in the midst of an entire reorganization of its artillery. Siege cannon ordered from the Krupp works in Germany had not been furnished. Millions of cartridges ordered from the same source also had been held up. It was with a disorganized armament and insufficient material that the Belgians held the Germans before Liége. Before Antwerp, in the retreat to Flanders, and in the defense of the Yser, it may be said that the remaining débris of the armament and munitions was exhausted. The worn-out field guns, brought back in the retreat to the Yser, were partly replaced by French three-inchers, but at that all the Allies were short of their requirements in armament and munitions. The Belgian Government, with no industries left nor territory remaining out of range of the German guns on which to instll new ones, began in exile to work out its great problem of war supplies. Today it furnishes saddles and harness to the British Army and other supplies of different kinds to all its allies, including Russia, besides keeping up the equipment of its new army. The Belgian Army is new in nearly every feature. Of the 120,000 men in the field and 60,000 men who garrisoned the forts, 30,000 fell into the hands of the Germans at Liége and Namur and in the retreat; 30,000 more took refuge in Holland, and were interned for the duration of the war; 14,000 were lost on the Yser, in addition to more than 20,000 killed and wounded in the battles of Liége, Haelen, and St. Trond. There remained neither bases, depots, nor hospitals. The reorganization was difficult. Unable to call a session of Parliament to revise recruiting laws to accord with the new situation, the Government could only appeal to the patriotism of refugees in England and France. The response was such as to reconstitute an army of six divisions of infantry and two divisions of cavalry, while 14,000 men were detached for the manufacture of munitions in France and 600 sent to Russia for the same purpose. About 30,000 more men were raised by decree calling up all Belgians eligible for service between 18 and 40 years of age. A regiment of automobile artillery recruited among the Belgian refugees and trained in Paris was sent to the Russian front, where it played an important part in Brusiloff's offensive in Galicia and Volhynia in the Spring of 1916. Welding Britain's Empire Closer Important Results of the Recent Imperial War Conference in London 10 make the British Empire a more Tsolidly united world power was the object of the Imperial War Conference that met in London in May, 1917. England is only one of four countries which constitute the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and this kingdom is only part of an empire which embraces five self-governing colonial nations or dominions, besides the great Indian Empire and dependencies all over the world. The problems which the Imperial War Conference considered were twofold-first, to devise some method whereby the empire will be able to act as a political unit without interfering with colonial autonomy; second, to consolidate the material resources of the empire and make it as far as possible economically self-contained. The readjusting of constitutional relations within the empire was deferred till after the war, but two important decisions were arrived at. The first was that India should be recognized as a member of the "Imperial Commonwealth," and the second that the dominions and India should have the right to “an adequate voice in foreign policy and in foreign relations," which they have not at present. While the dominions have loyally supported the mother country in the prosecution of the war, it has become obvious that if the self-governing peoples of the empire are to lend material support in future international relations, they should have a share in the shaping of those relations. The number of whites inhabiting the dominions is now nearly 40 per cent. of the population of the United Kingdom, while in regard to material resources and industrial development the dominions are steadily gaining ground. The importance of the recent conference in London is largely to be found in the fact that the statesmen of Great Britain have now definitely conceded the right of the dominions to an active part in the solving of the empire's problems. Commenting on this subject, the Colonial Secretary, Walter H. Long, in a statement issued on May 3, said: The resolution with regard to the Constitution of the empire was made the occasion for striking expressions by the various speakers of attachment to the monarchical institutions of the empire and their value for the preservation of imperial unity. In the words of one of the speakers, "The monarchy is the keystone of the imperial arch." Another set of resolutions dealt with defense. The British Admiralty is to work out immediately after the war a scheme for the effective naval defense of the empire as a whole. Behind this resolution lies the story of controversy in which the colonial standpoint was most thoroughly sustained by Australia. This dominion some years ago insisted that in addition to the British Navy, whose function was to act as a safeguard against the great rival navies, there should be a distinctly Australian navy, under Australian control, for the defense of Australian waters and trade routes, instead of the then prevalent system of paying a money tribute to the British Admiralty. Australians argued—with increased force after Admiral Fisher's policy of concentrating the British fleet in home waters was adopted-that there must be local protection as well as a system of naval defense against Britain's most likely enemy. Australia eventually had her way, and by the time the war broke out had already created a respectable navy of her own. It was an Australian cruiser, H. M. A. S. Sydney, which finally disposed of the German raider Emden. The concentration of the British fleet in home waters also necessitated relying upon the Japanese Navy for a great deal of convoy and patrol work in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Other defense resolutions adopted in London call for the development of a coordinated and standardized empire-wide system of producing munitions and other war supplies. Plans for Economic Union Most advance was made in laying the foundations of future economic union. On this subject the resolution adopted read in part: The time has arrived when all possible encouragement should be given to the development of imperial resources, and especially to making the empire independent of other countries in respect of food supplies, raw materials, and essential industries. With these objects in view, this conference expresses itself in favor of: (1) The principle that each part of the empire, having due regard to the interests of our allies, shall give specially favorable treatment and facilities to the produce and manufactures of other parts of the empire. (2) Arrangements by which intending emi grants from the United Kingdom may be induced to settle in countries under the British flag. Having regard to the experience obtained in the present war, this conference records its opinion that the safety of the empire and the necessary development of its component parts require prompt and attentive consideration, as well as concerted action, with regard to the following matters: (1) The production of an adequate food supply and arrangements for its transportation when and where required, under any conditions that may reasonably be anticipated. (2) The control of natural resources available within the empire, especially those that are of an essential character for necessary national purposes, whether in peace or in war. (3) The econonomical utilization of such natural resources through processes of manufacture carried on within the empire. That it is desirable to establish in London an Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau, upon which should be represented Great Britain, the dominions, India, and other parts of the empire. All the members of the Imperial War Conference signed an address to the King, which they presented in person on May 3. Part of the address read: We further considered steps that may be required to insure that victory may not be lost by unpreparedness in times of peace, and so to develop the resources of the empire that it may not be possible hereafter for an unscrupulous enemy to repeat his outrages on liberty and civilization. We shall return to our homes inspired by the magnificent efforts put forth by all classes of your Majesty's subjects throughout the world, confident that the trials and sacrifices borne in common must draw still closer the bonds of imperial unity and co-operation, each in its own sphere, to leave nothing undone which may tend for the honor and welfare of your Majesty and your dominions. Prime Minister Lloyd George made an important statement in the House of Commons on May 17 when he announced that in future the Imperial Conference would meet annually, instead of every four years, as heretofore, and that at the conclusion of the war there would be a special conference to adjust the constitutional relations of the empire. The new Imperial Council would be composed of the British Prime Minister, other British Cabinet Ministers concerned with imperial affairs, the Prime Ministers of the Dominions, and a specially accredited representative of India, with equal authority. Britain's Fight on Food Shortage L Public Meals Order, April 15, 1917 'ORD DEVONPORT, the British Food Controller, after trying various methods for voluntary conservation of food, finally issued an official order compelling the observation of meatless and potatoless days in hotels and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom, beginning April 15, 1917. The text of this order is as follows: In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Regulation 2F of the Defense of the Realm Regulations, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, the Food Controller hereby orders as follows: 1. Except under the authority of the Food Controller the following regulations as to foodstuffs shall be observed in every inn, hotel, restaurant, refreshment house, club, boarding house, and place of refreshment open to the general public, (hereinafter referred to as a public eating place,) and by every person having the management or control thereof. 2. (a) No meat, poultry, or game shall be served or eaten on any meatless day. The meatless day in the area comprising the City of London and the Metropolitan Police District shall be Tuesday, and elsewhere in the United Kingdom shall be Wednesday in every week. (b) No potatoes or any food of which potatoes form part shall be served or eaten on any day except on meatless days and on Fridays. 3. The total quantities of meat, flour, bread, and sugar used in or by any public eating place in any week shall not exceed the gross quantities ascertained in accordance with the following scale of average quantities per meal: per cent. to be added to the weight of meat delivered cooked into the public eating place, and 50 per cent. when delivered cooked and without bone. (a) Four ounces of bread to be reckoned as three ounces of flour. (b) Cakes, biscuits, pastries, confectionery, and similar articles, when the ingredients are not otherwise brought into account, to be reckoned as containing 30 per cent of flour and 20 per cent. of sugar by weight. 5. In reckoning the quantities of meat, sugar, bread, and flour for meals served, no account shall be taken of any meal which begins before 5 A. M. or after 9:30 P. M., or, in respect of the meat allowance, of any meal which is served on a meatless day. 6. None of the foregoing provisions of this order except Article 2 (b) relating to potatoes shall apply to food served over the counter of a buffet at a railway station. 7. This order shall not apply to: (a) Any boarding house where the number of bedrooms let and available for letting does not exceed ten; or (b) any public eating place where no meal is served the total charge for which (exclusive of the usual charges for beverages) exceeds 1s. 3d., and where there is exhibited on every tariff card, and also in a conspicuous position in every room where meals are usually served, a notice to the effect that no such meal will be served. 8. The person or persons having the management of any public eating place shall for the purposes of this order keep a register in the form prescribed by the Food Controller, and shall also keep invoices, vouchers, and such other documents relating to foodstuffs purchased and used, meals served, and other matters as the Food Controller may from time to time prescribe. 9. For the purposes of this order, the expression "meat" includes butcher's meat, sausages, ham, pork, bacon, venison, and preserved and potted meats, and other meats of all kinds, but does not include suet, lard, or dripping. The expression 'poultry and game " includes rabbits and hares, and any kind of bird killed for food. The expression "flour" shall mean any flour for the time being authorized to be used in the manufacture of wheaten bread. The expression "week" shall mean a calendar week ending on a Saturday midnight. 10. The Regulation of Meals Order, 1916, is hereby revoked as on the date when this order comes into force. 11. If any person acts in contravention of this order or aids or abets any other person in doing anything in contravention of this order, that person is guilty of a summary offense against the Defense of the Realm Regulations, and if such person is a company every Director and officer of the company is also guilty of a summary offense against those regulations unless he proves that the contravention took place without his knowledge or consent. 12. (a) This order may be cited as the Public Meals Order, 1917. (b) This order shall come into force on April 15, 1917. An official summary of other food regulations issued by Lord Devonport was sent to the United States Government on May 25, as follows: No trader, in selling an article, may impose a condition involving the purchase of any other article. No person may acquire supplies of food beyond the needs of his ordinary consumption. A tradesman shall not sell any article of food where he has reasonable ground for believing that the quantity ordered is in excess of requirements. The Food Controller may order the inspection of premises in which he has reason to believe that hoarding is taking place. The maximum price of wheat is fixed at 78 shillings per quarter of 480 pounds; of barley (other than kiln dried) at 65 shillings per quarter of 400 pounds, and of oats at 55 shillings per quarter of 312 pounds. The extraction of flour from wheat is raised to a basis of 81 per cent.; the percentage of flour from other cereals to be mixed with wheaten flour must not be less than 10 per cent. and not more than 25 per cent. Barley, maize, oats, and rice may be used in the manufacture of bread, but when wheaten flour is used it must not be of the regulation grade. Bread must not be sold until it has been made at least twelve hours. The only loaves allowed are the tin loaf and the onepiece oven-bottom loaf. No currant, sultana, or milk bread may be made. No sugar may be used in bread. All bread must be sold by weight. All loaves must be one pound or an even number of pounds. No wheat, rye, rice, tapioca, sago, manioc, or arrowroot or products thereof may be used except for human food. bread or other product of cereals shall be wasted. No maize, barley, or oats or products thereof may be used except for human or animal food. Νο The Food Controller has taken over all flour mills of the United Kingdom which use wheat in the making of flour, except those with an output of less than five sacks per hour. No chocolate may be sold or bought retail at a price exceeding 3 pence per ounce, or any other sweetmeats at a price exceeding 2 pence per ounce. The quantity of sugar used by manufacturers other than of jam, marmalade, or condensed milk is reduced to 40 per cent. of the 1915 supply. The maximum retail price of milk is 2 pence a quart over the price on the 15th of the same month in 1914. No tea may be packed other than the net weight. After July 1 all tea sold at retail, whether contained in a package or not, shall be sold by net weight. Forty per cent. of the total imports of tea from India and Ceylon are allocated for the purpose of the sale retail at 2 shillings 4 pence per pound. An arrangement has also been made with the Coffee Trade Association to supply a good, sound, pure coffee at a rate which would enable grocers to sell retail at 1 shilling 6 pence a pound. The Food Controller has taken over all barley, foreign and home grown, other than home-grown barley which has not been kiln dried. The output of beer is limited to the rate of 10,000,000 barrels per annum, as compared with 36,000,000 barrels before the war. The manufacture and sale of malt, or its use by other than a brewer for sale, is prohibited. Any infringement of an order made by the Food Controller is a summary offense under the Defense of the Realm Regulations, and the offender is liable to imprisonment for six months, with or without hard labor, or a fine of £100, or both. The order of April 15, it was estimated, would produce a saving of 65 per cent. on meat, 53 per cent. on bread, and 63 per cent. on sugar, as compared with the consumption under preceding regulations. Lord Devonport's new measures were subjected to bitter criticism. On May 8, in the course of an interpellation in Parliament, he announced the withdrawal of the meatless feature of the order on the ground that it was found to increase the consumption of breadstuffs, the most important item in the whole food-shortage situation. On June 1, 1917, Baron Devonport resigned his difficult and thankless position as Food Controller. |