BRITAIN'S PART.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15465, 18 December 1915, Page 11

BRITAIN'S PART.

THE MUNITIONS DEPARTMENT. HUGE ECONO3IIES EFFECTED. STRIFE AND DISSENSION PREVENTED. (By Cab'.e —Frees Association. —Copyright.) LONDON. December 16. Mr Lloyd Goorge. speaking cm the Munitions Amendment ISill. which is to remedy certain defect* in the Act, said that tins Government had been able to save from £10.000.000 to £-20,000.000 in taking over the whole metal trade of the country, and controlling the workshops. Strikes had been almost unknown, and the Munitions Act had .succeeded in preventing strife and dissension. Dr. C. Addison, Secretary of Munition.-, in the House of Commons, said that the Munitions Depart- | ment had been recently paying £<J0 per ton for certain articles. He was dissatisfied with this, and called for the bnoks to prove the cost of production, with the result that the price was reduced to £*20 per ton, thus saving £5.000.000 on a single contract in a very short time. BRITAIN'S WEALTH. IMPRESSIVE FIGURES. LONDON, December IG. Mr R. McKenna states that the tapitai and wealth of the United King-

dom may be roughly estimated at £ 1n,000,000.000. and the annual income at £'J ; -J00,000,000. TUB EXCHANGE RATE." BRITISH GOLD IN AMERICA. NEW YORK, December 16. The Treasury has melted down 20.000.W0 sovereigns which had boon accumulated as the result of British pn.vments in gold. The block weighs two hundred tons and measures .sixfeet, in height by s-ix feel in -width, by eleven feet in length. AMERICAN SECURITIES. THE EMPOWERING DILL. 'Received December lM.h, 1.-5 a.m.) LONDON. IVcember 17. The Bill empowering the Government to obtain control vi American aud Canadian securities held in Britain has passed the committee stage in the House of Commons. LAWYERS AND THE WAR. SACRIFICE OF EMOLUMENTS. LONDON. December 1(5. In the House of Commons, Ixml Robert. Cecil stated that the AttorneyGeneral and other Crown Law Officois had suggested the reduction of their emoluments during the war by £10.000 per annum, and this was now in operation. BARRISTERS IN THE ARMY. KING'S COUNSEL APPOINTMENTS POSTPONED. LONDON, December IG. Lord Buclrmaster, Lord Chancellor, has announced that no King's Counsel win be appointed during the war period, principally to avoid injustice to the many eligible barristers who are serving in the army. THE BONDS OF EMPIRE. CLOSER POLITICAL ORGANISATION. LONDON. December IG. Tho Rt. Hon. J. W. Lowthor, Speaker of tho House of Commons, in presiding at tho Parliamentary Association's meeting, said that the inter-Parlia-mentary bonds with the overseas Dominions wore rather flimsy, and should be drawn closer. Lord Islington said ho hoped that tho Association would prove to bo tho foundation far tho closer political organisation of the different parts of tho Empire. TREATMENT OF WAR PRISONERS. BRITISH AND GERMAN METHODS CONTRASTED. HUMANITY AND BARBARISM. LONDON, December 16. A representative of tho Australian Press Association accompanied a party of South African Dutch and Scandinavian journalists, on a visit of inspection to tho prisoners' camj at Dorchester barracks. Khaki-clad figures perchod on scaffolding, or sheltering in tho sentry-boxes from a drizzling rain, and networks of barbed wire, wcro the only signs of imprisonment. Some of theso 3108 men had been in England a year, while others were captured at Loos. Tho men are quartered in long dormitories, somo holding ono hundred, in smaller dormitories accommodating six or ciciit men, and in huts, each holding thirty men. Tho quarters aro heated by stoves and coal fires. Four blankets are supplied to each prisoner, and a liberal diet, including half a pound of fresh beef daily, is allowed. Tho prisoners aro not compelled to work, but volunteers for tho necessary work are paid. Except for parades at ten in the morning aud four in the afternoon, for the purpose of counting, the prisoners are not restrained. The Foreign Office, in a "White Paper, records that the German authorities state that Major Vandclcur. wnoso case was reported on April 10th, was made to travel in a cattletruck owing to his ill-bred behaviour in refusing to speak to German officers. British soldiers of the standing Army, the Germans say. are lit for no particular employ except the care of horses and farm work. They,are frequently lazy, obstinate, and arrogant. Many fights occur between the British and other prisoners, who mutually avoid each other. The authorities deny that the soup supplied was "dreadfully unappetising,*' and -say that it could not possibly be less palatable than England's 'cxtravag-.rnt fare. In a White Paper issued on the subject of the treatment of British prisoners in Germany, it was stated that "Major Vandeleur, who escaped from Creteld, reported that fifty-seven officers and men were packed, without fqod, in an unventilated horse-waggon, in which there was three inches of manure, so that they were unable to sit down. They remained there fo r thirty hours. Gorman officers and men brutally assaulted and insulted them on the journev to Cologne, which lasted three davs and nights. They were without food throughout the journey. Officers were treated fairly well at'Crefeld, but the soldiers were treated barbarously. They ■slept on sodden ttraw which remained unchanged for months, and were forced to do all tho menial, filthy work for the other prisoners. ENEMY TRADING. (Received December 18th, 1.25 a.m.) LONDON, December 17. In the House of Commons Sir John Simon announced that the Government would introduce a separate Bill to deal with enemy trading in Britain. This would be confined to trade between Britain and foreign parts, but a separate Bill would bo introduced to deal with similar oa:.c: in respect to tho Dominions. WOMEN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LEAGUE. A POLICE RAID. (Received December 18th, 1.25 am) LONDON, December 17. The ]»lico raided the premises of tho "Women's Social and Political League, and seized tho type used in the production of Mrs Pankhurst's weekly newspaper, 'Britannia.''

EXCHEQUER BONDS. AN ATTRACTIVE OFFER. (Received December 17th, 0.50 p.m.) LONDON. December 16. Tho Bank of England is offering, tiJ! further notice, an unlimited quantity of 5 per cent. Exchequer Bond.s at par, with a currency of five years. AGAINST CONSCRIPTION. DEPUTATION TO MR ASQUITH. (Received December lSth, 1.-.'j a.m.) LONDON. Dercmher 17 A deputation of Liberal and Labour uciulkms of Parliament waited on Mr \s((ii!th. and protested against conscription, which, they said, would Ikd * great blow to liberty ami social progress. IMPERIAL CO-OPERATION. QUESTION TO BE DEBATED IN THE COMMONS. (Received December 18th. 1-U5 a.m.) LONDON. Dei-ember 17. At the request ci the Unionist Business Committee, Mr Asquith fixed January 4tl> as the date ol a deoaU> on the advisability of immediately consulting the Dominions with a view to bringing the whole economic strcngtn of the Empire to bear against the enemy, in co-operation with Britain's .'»11 ic>. The promoters urge that steps should be taken to defeat Germany » system of trade ti eaties. OUTRAGES IN CANADA. FIRES IN MUNITION FACTORIES. (,'Timen" and "Sydney Sun" Scrvic**.'> (Received December 17th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. December 17. The Toronto correspondent of '"The Times" say<s that three departments of the Grand Trunk Railway workshops have been gutted by fire, rendering 140(1 munition workers idle. The series of such incendiarisms is extensive.