Mr. Lloyd George was on less firm ground when he
used language width gave the impression that we need now have little anxiety in regard to the production of high explosives. Probably be meant to sae this expression in its strict and narrow sense, but it has been taken to refer to artillery ammunition generally. The result is that people have been asking why the Government at one and the same time ask for a tremendous effort and sae optimistic terms such as those employed by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. We have ourselves no doubt that the true position in that a much greater and much more sustained effort is required than that we have yet made, and that if we do not organize ourselves for that effort we may at any moment find ourselves in deadly peril. It is much safer and much wiser to accept the Government's words when they are speak- ing rough things than when they are prophesying smoothly. At the same time, we deprecate all attempts to catch the Government out over their occasional outbursts of optimism. No good comes from wordy conflicts of this kind.
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