BRITAIN'S PART.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15606, 2 June 1916, Page 7

BRITAIN'S PART.

CONDUCT OF THE WAR. ATTACKS ON LORD KITCHENER. SPIRITED DEFENCE BY MR ASQUITH. STATEMENT ON ARMY ORGANISATION. CHANGES MADE BY SIR "WILLIAM ROBERTSON. (By Cable.—Press Association.—C6pyrisli*>.) LONDON. May 31. In the Hons® of Commons, Mr H. J. Tennan,t, Under-Spcretary for War, said every effort was being made to increase tho rifle strength of the Army by removing the younger men from the Army Service and Ordnance Corps, but this could not be done wholesale. Mr Tennanfc said tho troops in Great

Britain consisted of sick and wounded, those in training, others waiting to depart, and the necessary number for homo defence. Sir Ivor Herbert moved that Lord Kitchener's salary be reduced by £100. He declared that our great failure had been the absence of any well-considered scheme at the beginning of the war. The centralisation at the War Office had never been so severe. There ought to have been an early conference of representatives of industry to arrive at an understanding. A full enquiry into the Dardanelles affair was urgently needed.

Sir A. B. Markham said Lord Kitchener had been stripped of every vestige of authority. What was the use of having a Minister of War when Mr .Asquith had to go to the front to discover the shortage of machine-guns? Lord Kitchener gave no orders for the necessary materials until Mr Asquith came on the scene. No other belligerent had shielded incompetence. Mr Tennant had been made the butt .for much of Lord Kitchener's stupidity.

Colonel Winston'Churchill said that he believed that half the Army's ration strength was remaining at Home and half abroad. Half was fighting and half was not. Three-quarters of the fighters were employed as infantry in the trenches. These sustained nearly all the casualties. He declared that the proportion of men in the trenches could easily be raised, especially by the transference of young able-bodied men from other branches to the trenches. The proportion of rifles was an unduly low one, and uOO.GOO men were employed on the British lines of communication. The strength of the fighting units should have been kept up. The Staffs in Great Britain could be reduced by half, and young men ought to supersede retired officers who had been reinstated. Mr Asquith: That is being done. The motion was negatived. Mr Asquith said he believed there wag no larger proportion-of non-fighters in the British Army than in those of other Powers, but the Government was taking the most effective steps to use i larger proportion in the fighting-line. Sir Williaifl Robertson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and other Staff officers, had visited the front, and made suggestions resulting in the disproportion being substantially reduced.

Thank Heaven, continued Mr Asquith, we were not likely to be invaded, but the risk could not bo neglected. The only troops kept in Britain were the numbers that the Navy and Army authorities jointly considered necessary for absolute security. The number of Staff officers had been considerably reduced. Air Asquith defended the Staff officers, some of wiiom were the best in Europe, but they had been unable to respond to all the new demands of our growing Army. The Government's policy was to promote young men with brains and fresh ideas and experience regardless of red tapo or military etiquette. Mr Asquith warmly championed Lord Kitchener, to whom the Army, the country, and the whole Empire owed a debt that couid not be measured by words. The charge levelled at Lord Kitchener should also have been aimed at the' Government. Mr Asquith said he accented his share of responsibility, because he had been closely associated with all that Lord Kitchener had done.

Sir George Reid said that Lord Kitchener's was almost tha only English name which aroused a sympathetic echo in the Dominions oversea. His most serious fault was that he was not adept at advertising Jiimself. Lord Kitchener was also a relentless enemy of the "feather-bed" soldier and the disloyal subordinate.

Mr Asquith said he was not going to say that Lord Kitchener had never made a mistake in one of the most arduous undertakings a human being had ever had to face. No other man in the Empire could have been summoned ill so short a time and gained such satisfactory and' bewildering results in forming our enormous army. Surveying the twenty-two months of the -war with its unforeseeable events, and hazards of kaleidoscopic variety, and remembering tlje size of the army with which we started, there was no fair-minded man who would not pay his tribute of respect and appreciation for Lord Kitchener's services. THE WAR boMMITTEE. DEBATE IN HOUSE OF LORDS. LONDON, May 31. In the Housed of Lords, Lord Beresford criticised the War Committee. The military and political conduct of the war, hfe said.* did not appear to be successful. We suffered i'rom lack of quibk decisions at critical moments. We ipust stop "Birrellism" abroad.

Lord Crewe said that no large movement was sanctioned without consultation with the naval and military advisers. The Committee consisted of Mr Asquith, Mr McKenna. Mr Chamberlain, Lord Kitchener, Mr Balfour, j and Mr Lloyd George. All urgent war matters came before theai. Lord Middleton complained of the danger of • confidential papers going astray while members of Cabinet numbered twenty-three. Lord Crewe replied that 99 per cent. o f war matters did not come before the Cabinet. Tho War Committee's decision was final. Lord Salisbury contended that there ought to be a single Minister responsible for initiating a policy. MAGNIFICENT SCOTTISH TROOPS* I WIN UNDYING GLORY AT | LOOS. TERRIBLE LOSSES OF THE PREMIER DIVISION. COLONEL CHURCHILL'S STIRRING RECITAL. (Received June Ist, 10.20 p.m.) LONDON, Juno 1. A remarkable passage in Colonel "Winston Churchill's speech'in the House of Commons, revealed the fate of the premier division of Scotland in the battle of Loos. Of 9500 men who went into the fight, 6000 were killed or wounded. Some battalions lost three-quarters of their strength. Nearly all the Scottish battalions achieved their task, and gained some most important positions, which yore only lost at a later stage of the

operations, when they were handed over to other troops. A battalion of the Cameron Highlanders went into action thirty officers and 8-50 men strong. The colonel, who was Cameron of Lochiel, the adjutant, and 110 men survived. Yet they took and held their objective. Fotfr successive lines of men were swept away, but the fifth, went on. The remnant of the troops who were shattered during the first days of tic battle were collected, and 1200 of them were asked two days later to make another attack. They went over the parapet of their trench and renewed the attack with the utmost elan. Colonel Churchill added: —"Talk about Balaclava and the charge of the Fusiliers at- Albuera! These events pale before the deeds done at the present day by divisions raised in the British islands, and only a jejeune account of their glory has been published. '"Four battalions of this primary division of Scotland have been disbanded and. merged into other battalions. ' The Soutii African Brigade has taken their places, and the Scottish offi- 1 eers and men are scattered to the winds, regardless of their regimental ties."AX INNOVATION. INTERVIEWS WITH LOUD KITCHENER. (Received June Ist. 8.20 p.m.) LONDON. June 1. In the House of Commons, Mr fl. J. i Tennant. Under-Secretary for War. an-1 nounced that Lord Kitchener would confer with any r.:em!-or of the House who desired to sec him on war matters every Friday morning, and would answer any question. I (lleeehed June Ist, 10.20 p.m.) LONDON, June 1. Lord Kitchener will meet members of the House of Commons io-morrow, but not regularly. PRISONERS or \YAII. | EMPLOYMENT OF GERMANS. LONDON, May 31. Li Ihf. House; of Common's, .Mr H. J. Tennani, Undor-Secietary for War, said that steps "'ere being taken to einplov German combatant prisoners in Britain in timber-cutting, mining. and forottry. PEACE TERMS. \ STATEMENT 13Y MR ASQUITH. LONDON. May 31. In the House of Comnions, Sir A. B Markliam asked, in view .of Dr. von Bethmann-Holhveg's declaration that Germany was ready to make peace, ;>n.i blaming' the Allies for withholding peace, whether the Allies would inform Germany through a neutral source ct the definite terms tin which thpy would be willing to make peace, provided that Germany would act in a similar manner. Atr Asquith said that, nothing in die German Chancellors statement indicated that Germany was prepared u> consider any terms.safeguarding the mi t-erests of the Allies and the future peace of Europe. He had nothing in add' to Sir .Edward ■ Grey's receut speech in the House of Commons. Sir A. 8.. Markliam asked what end would be gained by not informing Germany what our actual terms of peace would be. Mr Asquith: The question is debaceable, and I cannot usefully add to what I have already said. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR. REPLY TO GERMAN CHANCELLOR ("Times" and "Sydney Sun" Services.) LONDON, May 31. The Foreign Office has issued a statement repudiating the German Chancellor's charges regarding the British policy iif tlie Bosnian crisis, which were based apparently on untrue hearsay and malicious gossip. War in 1909 was averted because Russia was reluctant to press Serbia's territorial claims against Austria to the point of a European war, and Britain concurred. Had Germany taken a corresponding view in 1914, whdn the Austrian demands on Serbia were pressed to the point of extinguishing the Serbians' independence, war could havo been averted. PARIS CONFERENCE. OPENING ON JUNE 14th. (By Cable.—Presa Association.—Copyright) LONDON. May 31. In the House of Commons, Captain E. G. Pretyman, Secretary of the • Board of Trade, announced that the Paris Economic Conference was definitelv fixed for June 14th.

MUNITION MAKING-,

APPRECIATION IN NOBEL

COMPANY'S SHARES

LONDON, May 31. At the annual meeting of Nobel's Explosives Company, the chairmap said that the original £100 shares were now worth £3COO, on which £8500 had been paid in dividends.