There is not the slightest doubt that Germany at that time was in dire straits for sufficient petroleum products for its military purposes: had the war been somewhat delayed in its commencement, she would have been far better prepared, for, under the auspices of the Government, there had been laid down an elaborate programme for the importation and distribution of Roumanian petroleum products throughout Germany. As it was, the country was unprepared, and, though in other directions every possible precaution had been taken to carry through an elaborate military programme of offence, the prospective dearth of sufficient supplies of petroleum products necessitated the enforcing of the most stringent regulations with regard to the uses of all petroleum products, excepting for military purposes. The taking of the Galician fields from the Central Armies by Russia gave a serious set-back to Germany’s military plans, and it was only when the Russians had to withdraw from Lemberg that the enemy was able to count upon sufficient supplies to meet his military requirements. To an extent, he was even then doomed to disappointment, for, when his armies arrived on the Galician fields, they found that practically the whole of the petroleum reserves had been destroyed, and a large number of the prolific producing wells more or less permanently damaged. Nor, to my mind, was the advance into Roumania prompted by the idea of territorial gains so much as to secure control of the country’s oil-fields. Here, again, Germany’s desires were in part thwarted, for the efforts of the British Military Mission, to which I refer elsewhere, had been eminently successful. From that time onward, however, Germany’s supplies of petroleum products were secured, and that she turned them to account was a matter of common knowledge. Germany, naturally, greatly valued the acquisition of the Roumanian oil-fields, and it must be to its people a great disappointment that the whole of these immensely prolific regions for oil production are now permanently removed from the nation’s grasp. Unfortunately, the British Government did not seriously appreciate the importance of petroleum products in war as well as peace until the war cloud of 1914 was about to burst. It had taken no notice of the suggestions made from time to time that in our own country there might be vast petroleum reserves awaiting development, and it had not even shown any encouragement to the Scottish shale-oil industry. All that it had done, and even this was on the eve of war, was to invest over £2,000,000 in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Ltd., for the development of the Persian oil-fields, so that the Navy could secure ample supplies of fuel oil. But here, however, there were difficulties ahead, for the Persian fields are in the interior of the country and have to rely upon pipe-lines to bring the supplies to the coast.