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Show SERIOUS OUTLOOK FOH ALLIES ON THE WEST FRONT SALT LAKE. April 18. "War brings with, it untold misery, but I would rather have every British and American Ameri-can boy lying dead on the battlefield of Franco than to live as slaves under the brutal domination of a victorious Germany." the Earl of Dunmore declared de-clared in an address before a large audience at the First Concrecational church last night, where he appeared under the auspices of the Salt Lako Britannic society. Referring to the present operations on the western front. Lord Dunmore said the great crisis of the war was at hand, and that the belligerents are in the first phase of the biggest battle ever waged in the history of mankind "The Germans havo so far failed to attain any of their real objectives," he continued, "but to break through threp successive systems of defense and penetrate more than thirty miles beyond be-yond may, with some justice, be claimed claim-ed by Germany as a success for German Ger-man arms. "But it may be, and 1 think will prove to be. a success which has hern purchased at such a heavy cost of human hu-man life that it will only bring nearer the final and inevitable collapse of tho German military machine. Purpose of Germans. "The German higher command aimed aim-ed to capture Amiens and divide the British and French armies. They aim ed at taking Bethune, Bailleul and Hazelbrouck, They have not only succeeded suc-ceeded m taking Bailleul. but also have taken the greater part of the Rfesslnes ridge. "With the capture of this high ground, the indentation by the Germans Ger-mans of our line in this area of operations oper-ations contains potentialities of grave danger to our communication Further north. It may necessitate a retirement of our line, and you must remember that this is onh the first stage in this gigantic struggle Withdrawal from this line would be an exceedingly serious matter for us. as it might endanger our hold on Dunkirk and the port- on the coast. I do not believe they will succeed, but 1 do not wish in any way to minimize the gravity of the situation ' Lord Dunmore emphasized the need of more ships and said the allies are depending upon the United Stales tor help in this direction. He remarked upon the difficulty confronting this country of maintaining half a million men 3000 miles across the sea, and pointed out that only an increase in our tonnage would Bolve the problem. America Must Win. "It is as important for America to win this war as it is for us in Britain. America's prosperity is based on her ability and freedom to trade and to export ex-port her surplus goods. If Germany were to emerge victorious in this war, she would control every cable station, and would be in position to dictate to America wiih whom she was to trade anil under what conditions. She would) make Americans pay for the war, and i you would have to keep up a large standing army to defend your own borders. "Do not imagine that I am advocating advocat-ing conscription or keeping up a huo standing army It is not in that dirt C-tion C-tion that peace lies. It is rather in the 1 direction of a workable partnership between the big powers of the world, by which each power contributes its element of force military' and economic econo-mic to the common fund. And it is in formation of that partnership thai I would see the democracies of Britain and America lead the war." oo |