in the United States. It is known as "twisting the British lion's tail." Why, then, is it disturbed, this democracy of a hundred million souls, engaged in making the most glorious experiment imaginable: the creation of a civilization without prejudices, with no class distinctions, with no monarchy, no militarism, no hindrance of any sort a civilization based solely on nationalist sovereignty carried to its extremest limits?

This entire movement can have but one explanation, namely, that we are confronted with a transformation of the human race, a transformation which expresses itself in the form of a general massacre. It is a struggle between two worlds, and we shall see which of the two will succeed in obtaining the mastery. Were it otherwise, this war would not be possible, and it would not be waged with the fury that distinguishes it from all other wars.

Gentlemen, the truth is that in this war, which was most certainly provoked by the Germans, we see the last attempt made by a single people to secure for itself a universal hegemony.

If the German soldier were to win to-day, the first result would be that the same military force, which is the greatest in the world, would also be the greatest naval force, and there would be no more independence, no more liberty for any one in the world, not even for the great American democracy. On the day when one and the same State had domination not only on land, but also on the day when the Roman Empire should be reconstituted in conformity with the affirmation once made by the Emperor William, that the hour would come when all men would be happy to call themselves German, just as formerly each exclaimed joyously Civis then the free life of each one of us would

sea

romanus sum be at an end.

IT CAN BE DONE

DAVID LLOYD GEORGE

HUNDREDS of thousands of precious lives depend upon whether you are going to bring this war to an end in a year victoriously, or whether it is going to linger on in blood-stained paths for years. Labor has got the answer. It can be done.

But I wonder whether it will not be too late. Ah, fatal words! Too late in moving here, too late in arriving there, too late in coming to this decision, too late in starting with enterprises, too late in preparing. In this war the footsteps of the allied forces have been dogged by the mocking specter of "Too late," and unless we quicken our movements damnation will fall on the sacred cause for which so much gallant blood has flowed.

I beg employers and workmen at any rate, not to have "Too late" inscribed upon the portals of their workshops, and that is my appeal. Everything depends upon it during the next few months in this war. We have had the coöperation of our allies. Great results have been arrived at. At the last conference we had of the Allies in Paris decisions were reached which will affect the whole conduct of the war. The carrying of them out depends upon the workmen of this country. The super

On December 20, 1915, David Lloyd George, then Minister of Munitions in the British Cabinet, delivered this splendid criticism of the Asquith Ministry before the House of Commons. This speech, with its ever recurrent theme "too late," sounded the keynote for the downfall of the coalition cabinet.

DAVID LLOYD GEORGE

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ficial facts of the war are for the moment against us. All the fundamental facts are in our favor. That means we have every reason for looking the facts steadily in the face. There is nothing but encouragement in them if we look beneath the surface.

The chances of victory are still with us. We have thrown away many chances. But for the most part the best still remains. In this war the elements that make for success in a short war were with our enemies, and all the advantages that make for victory in a long war were ours and they still are. Better preparation before the war, interior lines, unity of command - those belonged to the enemy. More than that, undoubtedly he has shown greater readiness to learn the lessons of the war and to adapt himself to them. He had a better conception at first of what war really meant. Heavy guns, machine guns, trench warfare — it was his study. Our study was for the sea. We have accomplished our task to the last letter of the promise. But the advantages of a protracted war are ours. We have an overwhelming superiority in the raw material of war. It is still with us in spite of the fact that the Central Powers have increased their reserves of men and material by their

successes.

The overwhelming superiority is still with us. We have the command of the sea that gives us ready access to neutral countries, and, above all—and this tells in a long war we have the better cause. It is better for the heart nations do not endure to the end for a bad cause. All these advantages are ours. But this is the moment of intense preparation. It is the moment of putting the whole of our energies at home into preparing for the blow to be struck abroad. Our fleet and the gallantry of the troops of our allies have given us time to

muster our reserves. Let us utilize that time without the loss of a moment. Let us cast aside the fond illusion that you can win victory by an elaborate pretense that you are doing so. Let us fling to one side rivalries, trade jealousies, jealousies professional or political. Let us be one people - one in aim, one in action, one in resolution, so to win the most sacred cause ever intrusted to a great nation.

BELGIUM'S DEBT TO FRANCE

HENRY CARTON DE WIART

DURING the dark hours through which we are now passing, Belgium, fettered and mute, treats with stoic disdain both the brutality and the insinuating attitude alternating in the system of oppression imposed upon her by the enemy. Worn by suffering, he would like her to call for Peace in a wail of woe that would be heard even at Havre! He flatters himself that he can compel her to betray her companions in this struggle. By misdirected advice in the press, he endeavors to influence the members of the Belgian Government. Their slightest acts, and even their silence, being misconstrued, commented upon, and distorted into signs and tokens of a desire for making a separate peace, by which means Germany hopes to break up the insurmountable resistance of her adversaries. Gentlemen, the Belgian people have resolved to suffer till the hour of deliverance; justice and inevitable reparation have sounded for her, she follows the example of her Great Cardinal, that pure image of ardent patriotism!

Belgium, in the darkness that surrounds her, in the silence of imprisonment which separates her from the rest of the world, has heard with a thrill the distant booming of the cannon at Verdun. She understands a great

A great French-Belgian demonstration was held in Paris, March 11, 1916, at the Sorbonne. M. de Wiart, Belgian Minister of Justice, rendered homage, in these words, to France and Frenchmen.