ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1915. THE "MORE MEN" CRY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 10, 13 January 1915, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1915. THE "MORE MEN" CRY.

The British Government has been criticised by Lord Selborne and other prominent members of the Tory party for not taking the public into its confidence on the "more* men" question. The Times, which, it must never be forgotten, is the journalistic mouthpiece of the Tory party,-'sup-ports the protest. Why, it may here be asked, do the Press Association agents in London persist in' cabling out the comments of The Times on. public affairs, in preference to those of any other journal? There are other leading British journals, such as the London Daily Chronicle, the Morning Post, the Manchester Guardian, and The Scotsman, whose influence is quite equal, if not superior, to that of the once f,amous "Thunderer," which, under the control of Lord Northcliffe, is by no means the organ of "light and,leading" that it was twenty or even ten years ago. It is, we may say, quite characteristic of, the purely "commercial" -spirit"'in which The Times arid'the other Northcliffe organ, -the Daily Mail, are conducted that there exists, it ,is said, an agreement as to the collection and circulation of war news with the journals owned by that unspeakably unscrupulous .-adventurer, Mr Hearst, of the notorious froup of papers of which the New ork American is the centre, and the pro-German sympathies of which are only too well known. That this agreement should continue to exist despite the anti-British tone of • the Hearst papers is most discreditable to The Times, and should discount to some extent the valu© of its comments upon the conduct of the war by the British Government.

Rut, cj..iifj;clcnrg the ":nom men"

question quite apart from what The Times may say, it is only right that we should remind those of our readers who may feel anxious as to the situation, now that Lord Selborne and others are inferring that the •Government is not ■■fully alive to tlie gravity *ot the position, that the i nation has had a definite assurance from Lord Kitchener that the recruiting is going on. satisfactorily, and that three new armies have already been organised, apart, from the Overseas contingents, and will soon be ready to take the field. "As many men are offering," says Lor<& Kitchener, "as can be dealt with." No doubt more will be required, for it is clear that the war is going to last quite another eighteen months, that victory can be achieved only by a regular reinforcement of the forces in the field, and that final superiority in numbers alone can secure a triumph for .the Allies. Russia is doing her share. Over half a million recruits are joiriinig the Tsar's armies this year,, and the "man millionaire," as Russia has been called, can, in all probability, easily treble or quadruple that number once the necessity for siuch a course is effeotively demonstrated. With regard to Great Britain, we have it on Lord Kitchener's authority that close upon a million men will be ready to take the field in. tho spring. Kitchener in the past has ever proved himself to be a man of his word, and we prefer him as an authority on military matters to a dozen Lord Selbornes or a hundred Times editors^—a.nd proprietors who are commercially allied with ■ pro-German Yankees of the Hearst type. Lord Selborne and The Times. are very anxious that the public should, "know the worst." But it is of much greater consequence that the enemy should know as little as possible. As to conscription," which The Times, and Lord Soiborne are so anxious to see introduced, the British Government, so both" Lord Haldane and Mr Lloyd George have told us, is fully alive to the fact that if sufficient recruits do not come forward some system of compulsion will have to b© introduced, ,; Surely Lord Kitchener's assurance—an assurance which the British war. chief's, reputation should make us respect—added to th© statements madel by Lord Haldane and Mr Lloyd George, is to be considered sufficient? We prefer to accept the calm and deliberate declarations of men. like these.,'.who have given sucih splendid proof, that they fully comprehend and'are capable'of dealing efficiently with the most adverse conditions and circumstances, to the opinions of the Northehiffe-owned Times and Daily Mail and irresponsible Tory; critics such as Lord Selborne. , A ,feelin g of false security would be a very bad thing for the Empire; but there is no need, on the • other hand,, to indulge in Teekless and mischievous criticism founded, as it must be, upon a far less intimate and accurate knowledge;.of the exact position of affairs than that which is ai; the disposal of Lord Kitchener and the 'chiefs of the British Ministry./ : - :, y :"