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Show FATE OF EUROPE DEPEMU.S. ISSUE OF WAR MAY BE DETERMINED DETER-MINED BY AMERICAN TROOPS, SAYS BRITISH PREMIER. Declares We Have Now Entered the Most Critical Period of the War and That Hurricane Attack Is Not Yet Over. London. Premier Lloyd George told the house of commons on April U that when the battle on the Sounue front commenced the total combatant strength of the German army on the west front was approximately equal to the total of the entente allies. Lloyd George said his man power proposal would involve an extreme sacrifice by part of the population o Great Britain. The Canibrai battle, he said, was a very trivial event when compared with the recent battle, and until the strain had relaxed it would be difficult diffi-cult to find out exactly what had happened. hap-pened. In the course of his speech the British Brit-ish premier said : "We have now entered the most critical period of the war. There is a lull in the storm, but the hurricane is not yet over. The fale of the empire, of Ftirope and of liberty may depend upon the success with which the last German attack is resisted and countered." coun-tered." The issue of the great battle might well be determined, Mr. Lloyd George declared, by the dramatic intervention of President Wilson and his action in placing the American troops at the disposal of the allies. It was Impossible Impos-sible to overestimate the president's offer, as the battle might very well be the decisive struggle of the war. He added that the German attack had stirred up the resolution and the determination de-termination of America beyond anything any-thing that had yet been heard. Draw on Reserve. The British reserve, Mr. Lloyd George said further, had been drawn upon to a considerable extent to make up for wastage. If the battle continued con-tinued on the same scale the drain on man power must cause anxiety. The proportion between 42 and 50 available for fighting, said the premier, pre-mier, was estimated at 7 per cent. The recruiting tribunals would be reconstructed re-constructed and the grounds for exemption ex-emption and limits of the right to appeal ap-peal would be standardized. ' Clergymen Clergy-men would be required to perform noncombatant service. No one under 25 years old would be retained in any industry. |