"For reasons that must be apparent to you this phase of the war. og was the ast one ending in 1018, will be decided in the Atlantic. The: objec~ tive of Hiller is the destruction the British Empire with citadel in the Brilish Isles. As these go s0 goes the Empire which is bound together by British sea: power which crumbles with the loss of the main base of that yea power—England itself. Thus if this War ia.to be won England must bbe saved, She can only be saved by rescue from across the Atlantic and that means ships—more ships—to take to her rations. iron rations and if need be men io the decisive field of battle, "How could it have been pos sible for the Yanks to freak tie Hindenburg Line in 108 if we did not have the ships to take our men over there. Similarly how Is It pos ible to defeat Hitler unless and only unless we common the scog and have the' shipping.
"The Battle of the Atlantic at this moment ip being lost, There 1s no doubt whatever about it. T mean just what T soy that the Battle of the Atlante is being lost. Int is a losing ight for the reason that Allied ships fare being guile at an alarming rate and much faster than they can be replaced. We are facing the inevit. blo defeat of England and the lapse of the Empire unless somethin more than is being done, is done bout It have to look squarely in the face now the fact that gland. can be defeated or forced to capitulate. Our country has decided to help the British. We are going shead with an industrial programme to that end: At precent this ig a war Industry" super-imposed on our peace time industry, "But there it ends. We deliver our was supplies to the Allies. especially Britain at New York. We have made no guarantee of delivery at Liverpool. If it is not evident today It wil, be in the very near future that this is not enough, There ig not the slightest doubt of it "Even though our present. system of industry to help England might prove sullieient the products of that Industry are not reaching England and the Allies in sufMieient abund-nee, 'The question is what are we going to do about it and we are ihe only" people left on Earily who kan anything at all about it, 'There is nly one thing that can be' done; and that Is fo see to it that the ships get safely eross. the Atlantic. How we are to do this. if at all. remains to be seen. 'There Is much' agitation at home for the escort of ships in con voy, That Is cerlainiy one real and Mendly effective solution.
It There Is no doubt of that, We at the moment give little thought to its protection. To build this merchant fect adequately, every day from now on might very well be another Na~ Mlonal Maritime Day. Do we intend to protect that. merchant marine—do We Intend to see it safely across the Atlantic?: These the great ques-long before us today—tomorrow the question will be are we again going to permit our merchant marine to rot In inactivity when the war ends or are we going ¢o compete in earnest with the help. of our Government backed by our people in the struggle ships. Feat assured' should we for -world commerce in our: own
not win this war, the markets of the World will be closed to us, their doors will be slammed in our faces by such an economic warfare that will dwarf anything ever before experienced in Jour history; the Life work of our Secretary of State, will be relegated tothe limbo of the dim past. God forbld—and give us courage and the will to again stand up and fight if need be-for our rights and our libertes against all comers"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.