subject to those two conditions, I say
not only to our enemy, but I say it on behalf of the Government, and I
hope on behalf of the House of Commons, that under existing conditions
there is no form of economic pressure to which we do not consider
ourselves entitled to resort. [Loud cheers.] If, as a consequence,
neutrals suffer inconvenience and loss of trade, we regret it, but we
beg them to remember that this phase of the war was not initiated by us.
[Cheers.] We do not propose either to assassinate their seamen or to
destroy their goods. What we are doing we do solely in self-defense.

If, again, as is possible, hardship is caused to the civil and
non-combatant population of the enemy by the cutting off of supplies, we
are not doing more in this respect than was done in the days when
Germany still acknowledged the authority of the law of nations
sanctioned by the first and the greatest of her Chancellors, and as
practiced by the expressed declaration of his successor. We are quite
prepared to submit to the arbitrament of neutral opinion in this war in
the circumstances in which we have been placed. We have been moderate
and restrained, and we have abstained from things which we were provoked
and tempted to do, and we have adopted the policy which recommends
itself to reason, common sense, and to justice.

This new aspect of the war only serves to illustrate and to emphasize
the truth that the gravity and the magnitude of the task which we have
undertaken does not diminish, but increases, as the months roll by. The
call for men to join our fighting forces, which is our primary need, has
been and is being nobly responded to here at home and throughout the
empire. That call, we say with all plainness and directness, was never
more urgent or more imperious than today. For this is a war not only of
men but of material. To take only one illustration, the expenditure upon
ammunition on both sides has been on a scale and at a rate which is not
only without all precedent but is far in excess of any expert forecast.
At such a time patriotism has cast a heavy burden on the shoulders of
all who are engaged in trades or manufactures which directly or
indirectly minister to the equipment of our forces. It is a burden, let
me add, which falls, or ought to fall, with even weight on both
employers and employed. [Cheers.] Differences as to remuneration or as
to profit, as to hours and conditions of labor, which in ordinary times
mig