William: "Now we will give England the death-stroke."
The total English tonnage is stated to be about 20,000,000 gross register tons, and is accounted for as follows: Requisitioned for military purposes, 8,500,000 tons; engaged in coastal trade, 500,000 tons; under repairs, 1,000,000 tons; plying "in the interest of the Allies," 2,000,000 tons; remaining for the supply of England, 8,000,000 tons "at most." It is added that, as a matter of fact, the statistics for July to September, 1916, show only about 6,750,000 tons of English shipping as plying to England, and it is estimated that, with the addition of 900,000 tons of non-English enemy tonnage and 3,000,000 tons of neutral tonnage, England is dependent upon a round total of 10,750,000 gross register tons.
The Lokalanzeiger, February 4, 1917.
William: "I say, Capelle, are you sure we have taken the right road?"
This is a conflict not of armies, but of industries and economic resources. Mr. Lloyd George once said that the last ÂŁ100,000,000 might win the war. The United States not only has the last ÂŁ100,000,000, but it has many times ÂŁ100,000,000. The day that this country enters the war the economic resources of the Allies will be doubled. We can practically care for France while recruiting an army of our own. The German General Staff may delude itself into believing that it has challenged the immediate war-power of 100,000 men. What it is really challenging is a war-power of 200,000,000,000 dollars (ÂŁ40,000,000,000) and a financial and industrial system that can be indefinitely mobilized.
The New York World,
February 6, 1917.
