298 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Allies and the dismay of Germany and 

 the Kaiser. 



We Canadians are delighted at the 

 manner in which you have taken up your 

 task. 



The story of Chateau Thierry has 

 stirred all our hearts. 



The help you have given far exceeds 

 the men and munitions you have fur- 

 nished, great and valuable though they 

 are, for you put new heart and vigor and 

 sureness of victory into the French and 

 British troops, who had begun to be a 

 little war-weary and stale after four years 

 of struggle. 



RALLYING TO THE MOTHER COUNTRY 



After four years of hostilities, it is 

 difficult to place ourselves in thought 

 back to the early days, when the great 

 German military machine, which had 

 been preparing for forty years, was 

 crashing through Belgium and northern 

 France. 



The sky was clouded and the outlook 

 dark ; the brave men of France and Brit- 

 ain were being overwhelmed by superior 

 numbers ; we had few guns to answer the 

 German artillery, and ammunition was 

 so short that many of our guns were re- 

 stricted to five rounds a day — it was at 

 that time and under those circumstances 

 that Canada had the privilege, on account 

 of our British connection, of getting into 

 the fray, and we all feel a joy and pride 

 that we were able to do something, even 

 though but little, to help stay the Hun in 

 those gloomy days. 



At the beginning of August, 1914, we 

 were not only unprepared for war, but 

 had so long breathed the atmosphere of 

 peace, that we were unable at first to 

 realize the importance of what had hap- 

 pened and the magnitude of the crisis 

 into which the world had been plunged. 



CANADA SAW HER DUTY AS A PRIVILEGE} 



As to our duty, there was no doubt. 

 From the Atlantic to the Pacific we felt 

 that it was both our duty and our privi- 

 lege to put our whole weight into the 

 struggle, side by side with the mother 

 country. But what were we able to do? 

 In what way could we help? 



As for military organization, we had 



practically none. We had 60,000 militia, 

 but they had had little training and had 

 taken their duties lightly. Bernhardi had 

 said that in the event of a European war 

 Britain's dominions and colonies could 

 be completely ignored. As for financial 

 help, we had been a borrowing country, 

 and how could we begin to lend? 



But our national spirit rose to the needs 

 of the occasion. Our people quietly de- 

 termined to do their best. The call went 

 out for 25,000 volunteers to go overseas, 

 and within a few months we had sent off 

 not 25,000, but 33,000. Within two 

 months of the outbreak of war some of 

 our troops who had been hardened in 

 South Africa were fighting in France, 

 and within seven months even our green 

 troops were on the field engaged in a 'life- 

 and-death struggle with the Huns — and 

 holding them ! 



Further detachments were despatched 

 as quickly as they could be raised and 

 drilled, until we now have a total of over 

 550,000 enlistments, and will soon have 

 600,000, and of these about 450,000 are 

 already in Europe. Every month is add- 

 ing to the number. We have promised 

 that we will send over not less than 

 500,000, and we propose to keep that 

 promise. 



Canada's contribution of men and 

 her casualties 



Our enlistments, including those se- 

 cured under the Military Service Act, 

 already number about one in thirteen of 

 our population. In the same proportion 

 the figures for the United States would 

 be around 8,000,000, which is about the 

 number you are preparing to raise. 



We began with voluntary enlistments, 

 but, just as in the mother country, we 

 had to come ultimately to the draft sys- 

 tem. You have profited by our experi- 

 ence, and have very wisely adopted the 

 draft system from the beginning. We 

 fully agree with you that this is the only 

 right and fair method, and that it is be- 

 sides vastly more efficient and more eco- 

 nomical. 



And how about the casualties ? In the 

 early days of the war, when we were 

 short of artillery, and even of rifles, and 

 were unprepared for poison gas, we suf- ^ 



