PREMIER ASQUITH.

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 2873, 17 February 1916, Page 2

PREMIER ASQUITH.

I REVIEWS THE SITUATION. STRIKES THE OPTIMISTIC NOTE, BY BLEOTIUO TKIiBGIIAPn. —COPTTIUGHt, PEE PHEBB ASBOOUTION.

]>jmion, February 10, In the House of Commons, Mr As- , quith, speaking with regard to the censorship, said it is important that the people should be enlightened and fortified by knowledge, and by being; told the worst us well as the best. Since the adjournment, little had taken place in the various theatres of war calling for special mention. There had been a recrudescence of activity at the front, wherein the Allies had Avell held their own. The .Serbian army, thanks to. the assistance of Italy, had safely evacuated Albania, and'was now being reconstituted and .re-Jilted. The operations in the Cam- ! yrobns iiad been brought to a triumphant conclusion. The situation in Mesopotamia was distinctly improving. General Townsliend was holding his own, and General AyJmcr's reinforcements sJionld have reached him - by this time. There was every ground for hoping thai their forces were now reunited, and that anything in thenature of a serious British check had been averted. During the last three months the Government had take); stock of the resources of men and munitions, and the industrial and .financial capacity, actual and prospective., to enable us to contribute the maximum effort to the common cause. The Navy had performed duties worthy of the best traditions of the Navy and Nelson. The Army had grown immensely. Britain entered , the war a naval Power, but now had an army tenfold larger than at the commencement of the war. In addition to these gigantic duties, Britain had to take a lending part in providing the Allies and Dominions with, tho sinows of war. M. Briand's cordial welcomes in London and Rome were a matter for congratulation. Mr AsquitTi hoped that at an early date there would be a general conferenceof all the Allies at Paris to review all political and strategic questions, thus effectively counteracting the enemy's early advantage in centralised con-; trol. Britain's responsibilities were more varied and complex than those of the Allies. He exampled the Navy. which was the most .powerful and diverse combination of fleets that ever sailed the ocean. With unexampled efficiency it had defended our shores and neutralised the aggressive powers of the German fleet, which had boon cleared from the high eeas. Mr Asquifch 'acknowledged the extent to which the men of the Dominions had rallied to tho army. Britain had the supplying of the Allies with the necessities of war and shipping -a gigantic and unprecedented task, where • there had been mistakes and miscalculations, but long, strides had been taken towards a solution