BRITAIN'S WAR BURDEN M. MILLERAND "ASTOUNDED"

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 57, 9 March 1915, Page 3

BRITAIN'S WAR BURDEN M. MILLERAND "ASTOUNDED"

OUR ALLIES APPRECIATIVE. (FROM OtJR OWN CORRBSPONDBNT.) LONDON, 2nd February. It is satisfactory to know that both France and Russia thoroughly appreciate what Britain is doing for the Allies. Occasionally one hears the criticism in France that that country has been left to bear the attack by herself, and that England is , not doing quite what she might. All such critics, and all pessimists, too, should be reassured by M. Millerand's enthusiastic letter to Lord Kitchener after his visit to this country. The War Office announced that "M. Millerand, Minister for War in France, accompanied, by M. Gerald Nobel, Captain Gainbefort, and Captain Donmayron, spent last Friday and Saturday in England. They visited Aldershot on Friday, and saw the troops quartered there, as -well as two Territorial divisions. On Saturday, His Excellency was received by the King, afterwards calling at the War Office, where he conferred with the Secretary of State for War. M. Millerand expressed his great pleasure at the appearance 'of the troops, and his entire satisfaction with the results of the exchange of views which his visit enabled him to effect with Lord Kitchener and others." M. Millerand also had the opportunity of meeting Mr. Asquith, Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. Lloyd George, and Lord Haldane. In these conversations the close understanding uniting the Cabinets 'of London and Paris was once more demonstrated. CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE. On embarking for France, M. Mille-' rand sent Lord Kitchener the following letter :— "Dear Lord Kitchener, — On leaving London I wish to thank you for the reception accorded me. I knew, like all my compatriots, the resolution animating His Majesty's Government and the British people. I could not, before hay. ing seen it, imagine the results in which it has already demonstrated itself under your energetic and skilful impulse. " The confidence of our two oountries in the outcome of the struggle, which we are carrying on in close agreement with our Allies, can but be increased thereby, and it is a great pleasure for me to express to you herewith my very sincere thanks, with the. renewed asß6Urance of my deep* esteem and sincere good feeling." PARIS PRESS COMMENTS. That France is delighted and satisfied is evident from the following extracts: — The Gaulois says :—: — "In the course of his statement to the Army ' Committee of the Senate presided over by M. de Freycinet, M. Millerand said that he was simply astounded at .the results obtained. It was not only the military efforts of our Allies which he had admired ; it was also the methods with which that effort had been organised. That which he had seen had surpassed his hopes and justified the confidence whicb France had always felt in tho courage of the British Army, as well as in the irresistible power of the British Fleet." The Petit Parisien declares: — " Our English confreres may rest assured that everyone in France fully re-

cogni&es the value of the help that Great Britain has given us up to' the present, and which in the near future should be still more efficacious. All this has raised in our hearts a debt of gratitude towards our friends and allies which we shall never repudiate. Of that they may be certain. In fighting for us they are fighting also for themselves. The two great peoples are resolved to make every sacrifice to bring about the fall of the insolent oppressor." ' Le Temps says : — "To her naval effort England has added another, which a few months ago no one would have dreamt of. She has sent us her regular army, her soldiers from India and the other colonies of the Empire. These British have been completed and enlarged. This might have been anticipated, but Great Britain's determination to shrink from no sacrifice in 'order to ensure final victory has manifested itself in a more unexpected and splendid manner. A new army has been created and organised by Lord Kitchener, the first detachments of which are already in France. "M. Millerand, during his visit to England, had an opportunity of seeing other troops ready to leave, and to admire the magnificent results of the British impulse all the more because these new forces have been formed and equipped out of nothing. Not a rifle, a gun, or a uniform existed for them. England has manufactured all the necessary material, while her factories have furnished military supplies which France and Russia, paralysed by mobilisation, were unable to provide. At the same time, Great Britain has maintained in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Africa the necessary troops for holding in check the accomplices of the Germans. • "It is impossible to over-emphasise the effort England has already put forth, and the effect which she is in the process of accomplishing." THE RUSSIAN VIEW. The news of the naval victory was received with the wildest delight in St. Petersburg, as only a few months ago Sir David Beatty and his squadron were visiting in Russian waters. A sitting of the Duma was held this week, when, in reply to a Deputy, I*. Sazonoff said that Great Britain was undertaking, a burden far heavier than had been expected of her. i