undecided.

It was a year in which the Allies, who were quite unready when war was forced upon them, strained every nerve to set their military houses in order; to enlist and train for the field their reserves of manhood; and to furnish themselves with those weapons and munitions in which they were deficient. It was a year in which millions of hard-earned money were spent every day, and the combatants piled up mountains of debt for future generations to pay off.

It was a year during which the Allies had good cause to thank God for the long years of peaceful industry which had given Britain great riches, and for the splendid navy which maintained for her the freedom of the seas. Britain's vast reserves of wealth enabled her to raise plentiful money for carrying on the war, and thanks to her navy her merchant ships were able to carry the products of her mines, mills, and factories to other lands. Great Britain alone of all the combatants was thus able to produce wealth in time of war, and to assist her sorely-hampered friends with timely loans.

The Modern Pied Piper.

(From the picture by A. C. Michael. By permission of The Illustrated London News.)
You remember Browning's poem about the Pied Piper who drew the children after him by the magic of his music. This picture shows the pipers of a Highland regiment drawing men after them to the recruiting offices. "I rejoice in my Empire's effort," said the King, "and I feel pride in the voluntary response of my subjects all over the world. . . . The end is not in sight. More men and yet more are wanted to keep my armies in the field, and through them to secure Victory and enduring Peace."

During 1915 the British nation for the first time began to organize itself for warfare on a vast scale. It found itself forced to raise an army thirty times as great as it had ever marshalled before, and to equip millions of men with every weapon known to the science of war. Moreover, it had to do this while the small forces which it had already placed in the field were struggling to maintain themselves against terrible odds. It was a work that called for every ounce of energy and determination that the Empire possessed, and it could never have been done at all had not the British people, as a whole, given willing support to their leaders.

The year was not many months old when it became evident that we could not hope to hold the enemy in check and drive him from his strongly fortified trenches unless we had an almost unlimited supply of big guns and high explosive shells. Early in the struggle the French had set their gun and ammunition factories working at high pressure, and they had taken good care that they should be fully manned with skilled workmen. Britain, on the other hand, had far too small a number of factories for manufacturing the vast supplies of war material which she needed, and many of her skilled workmen had been allowed to enlist and proceed to the front.

Committees were formed to organize all the workshops in the country capable of making weapons and ammunition, and vast supplies of machine tools, guns, and shells were ordered from the United States and Canada. While this was being done, a strong feeling gained ground that the government of the country should no longer be in the hands of a particular political party, but should be composed of the best men of all parties in the State. In May a National Government was set up, and a minister was appointed to devote himself wholly and entirely to the business of speeding up the production of munitions by every possible means in his power. Mr. Lloyd-George filled this post, and forthwith flung himself with great zeal and energy into the work. His first duty was to convince the nation of the great and crying need for more munitions. He pleaded with workmen to realize the danger, and to ally themselves with brothers in the trenches by working early and late and at the very top of their energy. Great posters appeared all over the country, showing a soldier and a workman clasping hands. Behind the one was a battery of big guns, and behind the other the smoking chimneys of a munition factory. Above was the legend, "We're both needed to serve the guns," and beneath the cry, "Fill up the ranks! Pile up the munitions!"

Unhappily, even in this time of great national danger, there were labour troubles. Masters and men quarrelled about rates of wages and hours of work, while their sons and brothers were dying at the front for lack of shells with which to keep down the fierce bombardment of the enemy. Not until laws were passed preventing masters from making undue profits out of the nation's needs, and punishing workmen who kept bad time, was the strife allayed. The Trade Unions were persuaded to relax their rules, and gradually most of the difficulties were removed. Slowly but steadily the supply of arms and ammunition increased, until in the latter part of the year the shortage was overtaken, and it was possible to meet the enemy on more than equal terms. A well-known public man who visited the trenches in November was able to say, "For every shell which the Germans throw to-day, we are throwing five." "Mr. Lloyd-George's compliments," said a British gunner to the shell, as he closed the breech of his gun, "and there's plenty more where that came from."

Britain had not only to supply the needs of her own army and navy, but to help her Allies as well. Before the year was half over, the Russian supply of rifles and shells almost gave out. Russia, as you know, is far more an agricultural than an industrial country. She has no great number of machine shops that can be turned into munition factories, nor has she anything like the number of skilled workmen required to furnish her with the enormous supplies of war material which she needs. In May, when the Germans brought against her a tremendous force of artillery and machine guns, her shortage was so great that she could not resist, and was obliged to make a long retreat from Poland and Galicia. Many of her recruits had no rifles at all, and at one time the artillery of her Second Army could only reply to the incessant fire of the enemy with two shells a day!

The Russians strove manfully to increase their supply of munitions, and Great Britain and Japan gave them much help. By November they had increased their supplies to such an extent that they were able not only to resist the enemy, but to attack him. Some idea of the spirit shown by the Russian munition workers may be obtained from the following message which was found written on an ammunition box: "Do not spare the shells; there are plenty more coming, comrades. We are working hard to keep you supplied. Cheer up!"

Poor little Serbia had all along to struggle against a great lack of war supplies. Her factories were never able to give her more than a tithe of her needs. You will remember that, but for the ammunition which the Allies sent to her in December 1914, she could not have driven the Austrians from her country. In December 1915, when the Serbian army was driven into Albania,[1] it became entirely dependent for food and supplies upon Britain, France, and Italy.

Great Britain had not only to produce weapons and other munitions for herself and her friends, but she had to enlist and train more and more men to fill up her ranks and to repair the wastage of war. While every other nation engaged in the struggle could force men to serve in the army, she alone used no compulsion, but left each