Show a II Glorious France I By John Morgan In the issue of The Telegram somewhere around I noticed a well written letter from front t the e pen of a writer us initials C. C W. W B B. B The title was Glorious France However writer overlooked one or two things which 1 I intended to c co com i upon C. C W. W B B. B is right in one respect where he lie stated Ilia jha kaiser is aiming his mightiest blows at France but the on onen n that he lie would wish to crush utterly is Britain but Britain but the seas guarded by the Britannic navy is the huge stumbling that thwarts him so he lie tries to get even by venting his spice France 11 The kaiser is s a student of history and both he and 1 ms his s staff know that that- no nation has achieved any degree of world minion without first of all atI securing command of the seas Tl JJ the secret of the mottoes seen everywhere the Huns arc are in coi cor Gott Strafe know full futI well their land England as they that la d tories either in Russia Italy or elsewhere will avail them theme long as this relentless blockade cuts her and her confederates confederate the outside world IS m mIt It is because of this thus fact that the Germans cowards as asare are arc at bottom have vested their spleen spite and hatred on unfortunate British prisoners who have fallen into their m lh K Treatment of prisoners of war reveals the character of a na m mand na and it is only bullies and cowards that maltreat defenseless andl less prisoners prisoners helpless helpless because to attempt to hit back and de oneself would incur the risk of either being bayoneted or In his letter C. C W. W B B. B referred to France sustaining the theon on the Somme alone She did until the great British offensive c on that sector in July 1916 Since then the British 1 borne it as their losses on the Somme last year were nearly and those of the French a shade under j II Anent Verdun several batteries of Australian artillery gay and took part in this historic fight but the they were only a dropic bucket Ducket in comparison to the huge size o of the tile belligerent armies armiS S But England gave material help at Verdun in an r ner namely by taking over some thirty-five thirty miles of front a weeks before that terrific encounter commenced thereby relea some ome French troops who thus had the opportunity fob weeks of recuperation and rest before being assigned to the Vei or some other sector 9 In a similar manner America can now give indirect aid to 1 by taking over permanently some ten or fifteen miles mules of f Before allotted scheduled time thus releasing a division or we W seasoned and experienced French troops for service in C. C W. W Bs B.'s estimates of the length of front held by allied armies is not far from being correct The Anglo Anglo Belg Belg lg Portuguese line tine is somewhere around miles in French holding the other p But there is another another side to this namely the French more thinly held held by the Huns than on the front opposed opposed- o Douglas Haig J Of the German armies on the western front some sonic 54 pe iare i are are lined tined along the lengthy French front and some 46 per cent the he short front held by Haig This is easily accounted for bees bee b 1 the he German staff were under the impression that France was was' was all U was tottering on her last legs was bled white to use i 1 t tt t term rm so they thought it utterly impossible for France to tofal 1 as assume ume the offensive On the other hand they knew Haig gathered under him an immense army new armies by now trai ai and seasoned warriors splendidly equipped with a a of artillery and shells They EXPECTED an offensive in and so concentrated the bulk of their forces on that front so soja a abe be e ready for the impending attack sol tt I Many scribes here have labored under the delusion that era r was vas on her last legs but it is not so On the contrary France her long and glorious history never had so large an army so suP super r trained rained and so splendidly equipped as the one now doing such stich man service nor one so devoted to La Belle France and all tha Jha implied in those magic words Again C. C W. W B. B writes of the tremendous output from e arsenals but fails to give credit to England to whom sh she IS for the larger part of the necessary raw material when when Ie I 1 area of France around Lens Lille and was overrun by DJ Huns luns France was deprived of vast deposits in coal and iron which are absolute vital necessities in modern war warf 1 Arsenals gun factories and works cannot be run on you air lir you require fuel So England got down to business and ip ur the deficiency as up to date she has supplied France with a 0 tons of coal tons of steel for forging etc and tons of finer grade chilled steel used in In ml manufacture of shells and these are English tons 2 pounds and not the short American ton of 2000 pounds M MOne One will have to admit that countless thousands of guns o 0 varieties of calibre can be forged from tons of steel France ranee no matter how heroic her sons will fight would be beTi tight ight fix only for this colossal material help from England bel Ji What this means we can see in the late debacle and tragic treat real of the Italian army due to a great extent to a shortage coal oal and steel for munitions of war Yet somehow or other otherl E land has managed to help Italy to the tune of tons of per month for over two years and in that period of time has plied her leer with over tons of steel yet it was no not enough hence the Italian debacle of the last two weeks England has had to bear this double burden in in addition addition Jq to q tending to the needs of her own mighty navy and the sup pl with all essentials of huge armies in France the Egypt and elsewhere So much for what C. C VV W B. B has lIas evidently overlooked Ne Nethe the less France in her awful hour of trial has been glorious J more resplendent than at the pre present ent moment a and d what a re tion she is to those beclouded critics who a few years ago wro her as both decadent and immoral the poor benighted unable to delve below the surface and get a true glimpse of imperishable soul of beloved La Belle Betle France |