A U-BOAT YEAR

Yesterday Sir Andrew Bonar Law announced in Parliament the results of the U-boats' first year of unrestricted warfare as they compared with the amount of tonnage built during the year. Great Britain and America together had launched only a little over two million tons, whereas it is estimated that the U-boats have sunk some six million tons of Allied shipping.

This is a very serious result. Von Tirpitz has sent to the bottom in one short year three times as many ships as have been put in commission by our own ship yards and those of England. The unfortunate disputes and delays in our shipping program have been partly responsible for this result, which has been so favorable for the U-boats.

It is true that Germany has not realized her boasts to sink a million tons a month and starve England in half a year. Nevertheless we must not shut our eyes to the fact that her work has been dangerous, and will become fatal if great strides are not taken in ship-building.

We have the chief responsibility for increasing the output of tonnage. Great Britain is already working at top speed, and is also handicapped in the importation of raw materials. We have unlimited resources for making ships and must use them to the utmost. The Shipping Board is working for four million tons this year and with its new organization and wide powers ought to approximate this mark.

The navies give us a prospect of a decrease in sinkings, and the Shipping Board of an increase in tonnage. We can look forward with hope to the gradual eradication of the U-boats' usefulness. As yet, however, it is a hope and far from a reality.