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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1046.PDF
issue routine orders authorising trials of inventions submitted to their headquarters in accordance with this Army Order." ' We are unfeignedly pleased that the Army Council has seen fit to set right what was likely to have be- come a heavy drag on the wheels of invention. Obviously, we are unable to even refer to the many inventions and improvements in existing material which have been brought about through the encourage- ment extended to officers and men actually serving in the field and which have come to our own direct knowledge. It is sufficient to say that these have been more than a few and that, in the nature of things, they are but a fraction of the whole. In ,any case, they have been quite numerous enough to convince that a very large amount of good work has been done in the field, very little of which could have been accomplished under the crippling influence of Army Order 221 of 1918 had that mistaken instruction been in force at the time. How much, for example, does the R.A.F. owe for its enormous increase in the efficiency of machines, engines and equipment generally to the inventive genius of its officers and men on active service ? No one can say definitely, but it is probably not going too far to say that a goodly proportion of the detail improvements in equipment have been evolved in the field, even if they have been developed at home, and to actively dis- courage invention would be the most pernicious policy the Army Council could possibly adopt. However, the objectionable Order has happily been rescinded and matters can now pursue a normal course. • "•- •., i. -:t;, ;"v. ,'••*• Sir Donald Maclean, in his capacity of The Chairman of the House of Commons Right^Use committee of the London Appeal Man-Power. Tribunal, has said a good many wise things relative to the methods adopted in the use of the " comb," but none better than the remarks he made the other day regarding the taking of unfit men for military service. He said that the military conditions to-day were more favourable than even the most extravagantly optimistic would have thought possible a couple of months ago. Great military victories, however, always carried with them great losses, which had to be made good, and tribunals would have to discharge their part in supplying men for the Army and its ancillary services. Whatever excuse there might have been in the past, for anyone concerned with sending unfit men into the Army, the last vestige of reason for doing so had now dis- appeared. Tribunals might also well bear in mind that while man-power was the root of the military offensive it was also the root of the financial offensive. The military burden might grow less but the financial burden grew greater, and the duty of tribunals holding the balance between the military call and the civil need was to see that they exercised their discretion in such a way as to feed in every possible way the man-power which was necessary to keep up the financial offensive of the nation. These are words of wisdom to which it is permissible to hope those who may be concerned with the alloca- tion of our man-power will pay due heed. There is not the slightest doubt that the whole man-power question has been badly bungled by the Government and its advisers. They have worked along the lines of mere opportunism and without consideration of the real needs of the nation. We nave pointed out long ago that even in the case of a mighty Power SEPTEMBER 19, 1918. like the British Empire there must be a set limitJto its resources. During the four years of war the British Empire has maintained the greatest Navy in history, which has kept the seas open to commerce and the transport of Allied troops. It is a common- place that without the British Navy there would not be an American soldier in France. Without it the Allied cause must have crumbled into dust within a twelve-month of the outbreak of war. We have created from practically nothing an army that is certainly not less than second in comparison with that of any other belligerent Power. From the beginning Great Britain has been the financial backer of the whole Alliance, to the various parties to which she has advanced many hundreds of millions of pounds, in addition to money advanced to the Dominions on account -ef their war expenditure. Then, since she got fairly into her stride, Great Britain has been the munitions power-house of the Alliance. She has supplied her Allies with coal and iron, in addition to manufactured products. She has supplied tonnage for their needs, and to-day is providing 60 per cent, of the shipping required to transport the American armies to Europe, while to a very large extent she has made herself responsible for the equipment of those armies. It is a set of achievements which we do rightly to regard with pride, but at the same time we should remember that it has not been accom- plished without imposing an enormous strain on our resources—a strain which cannot be kept up in- definitely without causing the most grievous permanent injury to our future as an Empire. If we cannot win the war without its continuation for a further in- definite period, then so be it. We must submit with the best grace, believing that the cause of civilisation must come before all other interests. We do not, however, believe that the mass question of Britain's war effort has been properly visualised by the men who have constituted our War Governments. They have deferred action in very many cases until it was almost too late, and then have acted " on the jump " and obviously without proper consideration, thereby working incalculable harm to our interests, both present and future. Take, as an example, the events that led up to the present coal crisis. As early as the spring of 1917 competent observers were warning the Cabinet that if our armies in France were to be kept up to strength it would be necessary to extend the provisions of the Military Service Acts, but so satisfied were they with the position that nothing was done, and in his despatch covering the operations of 1917 Sir Douglas Haig laid emphasis on the shortage of trained drafts for the Expedi- tionary Force. Then came the sweeping German victories of March and April last, and at once the War Cabinet was seized by panic. The Military Service Acts were broadened in scope and a number of middle- aged men were swept into the Army, irrespective to all other interests. The " comb " was put through everywhere—except in those places of refuge where the most-favoured are congregated—and among others 25,000 skilled miners were taken for the fight- ing service, after, we are told, the position had been carefully examined from every point of view and the Cabinet were satisfied that it would have no adverse effect on coal production. It should have been abundantly clear to the Cabinet that, with the last few remnants of the French coal- fields again in German possession, the strain on our own sources of production was likely tor,be accentuated, 1046
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