Director of Public Relations of the War Office, to the effect that within one year Great Britain had trained and equipped over a million men, serves to draw attention to the -great effort which is being made. With the change over from voluntary recruitment to conscription just before the war commenced Britain was faced with the enormous task of dealing with the large numbers of men which have since been called up. The work has been done admirably, and within a few days after the outbreak of war the British expeditionary force was being transported to France in a method which pays admirable tribute to the efficiency of those officers responsible for so large an undertaking. The fact that it was done without loss, and that additional bodies of British troops have been sent overseas to other places besides France, together with the despatch of forces in aid of Norway, clearly demonstrates the command of the seas which the Allies have maintained ever since the commencement of hostilities. When it is remembered that during the last war the British Empire mobilized no fewer than 8,904,000 men it is apparent that the imperial resources in man-power are indeed a very long way from exhaustion. To train and equip such large numbers was of necessity a matter of time, but the rate at which the same process is being carried through now is much faster than was the case a quarter of a century ago, and there is every reason to expect that in the not too distant future no fewer than five million men will be available to proceed to whatever theatres of war future developments may bring into being. In this connection it should be remembered that Germany has reached the peak of her man-power recruitment, while Great Britain possesses reserves which should in the long run have a profound effect upon the outcome of the war.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.