Page:Science and the Great War.djvu/24

18 scientific matters, and he sought personal interviews with many people in authority, but nothing could be done in these ways: the press remained as the last and only hope of saving our men from the results of the acts of our own Government.

Sir William Ramsay traces the origin of this fatal policy to the erroneous suggestion of substitutes made by an eminent lawyer-politician, who 'at the beginning of the war gave as his opinion that it would be useless to make cotton contraband, as there were so many substitutes for it which the Germans could use'. Concerning the possible use of nitro-cellulose from vegetable fibre other than cotton, it is sufficient to say that ammunition made from it could not be safely used in large guns, and that its power would be different from that of gun-cotton, so that weapons designed for the latter would have to be altered.

The Marquess of Crewe, in replying to Lord Charnwood's question about cotton, is reported to have said 'it would naturally not do to assume that no substitute, even if less convenient, can be found in all cases. I do not say that to minimize the importance of keeping raw cotton and cotton-waste out of Germany, but I do not go so far as my noble friend in speaking of its necessity.'

Surely the 'necessity' was upon our Government to prevent Germany having any advantage that we could deprive her of; and it was idle, especially for a speaker unbacked by expert opinion, to attempt to discriminate between what is 'important' and what 'necessary' to the enemy.

In the debate on the sugar duties, on March 9, 1759,