WHY LORD JELLICOE WAS REMOVED.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 113, 16 May 1918, Page 6

WHY LORD JELLICOE WAS REMOVED.

SIB ERIC GELMDES'S ACTION.

The subject of Lord Jellicoe was raised in the House of Commons, during the first-week in March by George Lambert, who was once a Civil Lord of the Admiralty. He asked if fne reorganisation of the Admiralty -was simplv an excuse for the dismissal of Lord Jellicoe. The dismissal was preceded by methods with which thev were strangely familiar. There were attacks in "certain newspapers," and ; Sir Edward Carson protested against them in a speech at the Constitutional I Club/and paid tributes to Lord Jellicoe. i Was Sir Edward Carson, as a member of the War Cabinet then, consulted as to the removal of Lord. Jellicoe ? ''Certainly not!" said Sir Edward Carson emphatically. ~.,,. "Proceeding, Mr Lambert said that the Xavv and Army were now controlled not by men like Lord Fisher. Sir William Robertson, and Lord Jellicoe, but by second-rate sailors and soldiers. Either the Press vras controlled by the Government or the Government was controlled bv tne Press. Sir Edward 4Jarsun replied at once u> th» part of the speech which concerned himself. "I cannot let' the occasion pass," be said, "without stating her* what I have stated before, that from *ny experience of Lord Jellicoe while I ■was at the Admiralty I saw no one and knew no one who was at all his equal for the particular position he occupied. When. I made the reference to Lord "Jellicoe in my speech at the Con ctitutional Club I was smarting under the constant and p&rsistent efforts oi m. section of the Press which might indeed be said to be associated with the HSoverhment to try and jret Lord Jelli«oe turned out of his post. One or the greatest difficulties I met with was the constant persecution that occurred—l can call it nothing else—of certain high officials of the Admiralty, who could not speak for themselves, a persecution • which I could have traced, oo doubt, to motives of a most malignant charac- " ter. Over and over again while I was ■"■*t the Admiralty persistent pressure was put upon me —I need hardly say I resisted it—to remov e officials, and among others Lord Jellicoe. "I asked over and over again. 'Foi -what reason? The sooner this country - understands that these attacks in the - Press on high permanent officials carry- . mg out anxious war duties can only "have the" result of weakening tae ad ministration oi The war the better it ? will be for the country. It is utterly impossible to expect a man like Lord working from morning till night" and sometimes all night, to fulfil -iis dutvi to the State, calmly and de- " liberatefy acting solely oo his own judg--tnent, if every, second .day'he is- to be ; attacked in some wretched rag of a ■ newspaper! I do not care what it calls "itself—whether 'The Soldiers* 'Friend' or 4 The Sailors' Friend,' or what. "(Cheers.) In my judgment any Government worth its salt ought to take the .most drastic steps possible agains such papers, and if they have not got the "necessary powers they ought to obtain them to prevent their officials being in this way. . "As to Lord- Jellicoe's dismissal, I 'min not quarrelling with that now. It is Sir Eric <3eddes'« business, not mine. -All I car* say is that while I was at -the Admiralty. I never met a more competent man or one with greater knowledge, and for my part, although 1 do not - know the reasons for Lord Jellicoe's dismissal, I look upon his. dis

missal as a national calamity. I am ; bonnd to say that in justice t,> Lord iFellicoe, -who has never said a single .word since he went." Sir Edward Raid he was not cou fiultd, nor, so far as ne knew, was the . War Cabinet. He first heard of it while snow-bound on a railway station returning from his Christmas holiday. • "Two countrymen were speaking of it. On« said that Jellicoe had been dismissed, and made a Peer. The other ■was puzzled'. 'I suppose*' he said, 'that'if they turned him out it was be cause he had done something wrong". Why, then, did tney make him a lord?" - And I -could not but feel tnat there was a great deal of commonsense in that statement. - *'Ls the First Lord reallv going to tell us that in this crisis of the coun- . try's fate the greatest living sailor is - to remain on the unemployed list ? Tlia * ..would be an outrage not only to Lorti • Oellicoe but to the country. I agre<» with A jroung iiaval officer who wrote to me on the subject from America: ~*TeII whoever is the author of this out /rage, from 13 of us here : n America, that he has conferred the greatest bent» fit on the German Fleet they have had since the war began.' " (Cheers). Admiral &ir Hedworth Meux said it was clear ..to him months ago that then* was a determined attempt on th* part j of some people unknown to get rid of Lord Jellicoe. He entirely acquitted the Prime Minister of any" complicity • in the master. "1 asked him mvself ut r- he approved of the attacks on Lord -Jellicoe, and he assured me that he did not."

He wanted to know rho really was responsible for the dismissal. He did not know who -were the present lirsf Lord's forebears, but was there not one Jenny Geddes- who threw a ztoo! 'at a bishop? (Laughter). In the same _- way the Tirst hao" flouted no* / only Lord Jellicoe but also the entire * Navy. "When I heard of Lord Jell* • ' coes dismissal I was so furious that } -' could not go to church." (Loud laugh- - ter). While he was sure that the First - Lord meant to do the thing conrteouslv I- 7u * T f S° m f° rd JeHfcoeV friends. - that the admirals feelings were seri -. onjely- wounded. - ■ Sir Eric Geddes said he had depre- - fated and still deprecated the attacks -that had been made. "During the few -- months that I was associated with lord - Jellicoe there were few subjects on which wf were more in accord j di«- •. cussed with, him the best wav of preventing these attacks, which distressed -: me and I did my ba*t to stop them." -' t * r «<»»iiltation with the First Sea . Lord(he saw certain representatives •of ,<the Press and nrotested. "I also raised Si 2 f n T t,o f' at a ' d « Wnet »**- .ing at least with members of the iCabi.::aet. and I acted £,» .accordance with i^L^ VlC lh ? e - had been prised of -- ~^T n ? th f r d ?™™ of the Govern:.rnent to Lord Jellicoe as to hi* removal, r «*~ wh, ? fi hurfc his feelings. ' xx, o w Edward Carson has told ns that the War Cabinet was not consulted " - Mr Koch interposed.

.-. Sir Eric Geddes paused for a second and then said: ".Well, if tecfinicallv I ;W3S responsible, I accept ifc " ■'■-- »^ r .» Boch: , Bnt S, ' r Edward Carson - stated expressly that the War Cabinet ' was not-coiuiDltea: Therefore tlio r*- - sponnbilitv. of the First. Lord i., not ;- technical bul actual " frSif + S iC dde V J, was - from the -position I belt'. j notified my " seWw5 eW w to ,?"*»"" °* m y colleagues in the War Cabinet: ''Who were they?" demanded. s*v- .-. eral members. Sir <Jharlea &eeh T: I s there tt Government at all We Bave a right to know whom the First Lord did consult. In the old days we at least knew who tie Government was. Sir Eric Geddes .- I regret T cannot go into this matter further. Reverting - to the point of his letter to Lord J»l- ---. Ueoe, he cpuß only say that if he had

hurt""the admiral's feelings he was extremely . sorry. "After considerable thought as to how it should be done, I wrote a letter, because I thought that was the most considerate and most tactful way of informing so distinguished a man of the decision, and I mentioned that I was at his disposal for the rest of the e vening and afterwards if he wished to talk matters over. As regards the future employment of Lord Jellicoe. it is intended, when a suitable opportunity occurs, to employ him and make use" of his great experience. I hope such an opportunity will occur shortly, and that Lord Jellieoa will see hi« way to aovpi it-" '"lt is extraordinary," commented Mr Roch. "'that a distinguished public Setfv; vant should be dismissed without a decision of the War Cabinet on the matter "

Mr Bomr Law. who entered the oHuse while Mr Roch was making this complaint, replied at once. "The last thing I would dream of doing." he said, "would be to use any words which might imply anything but great admiration for, and a great belief in the ability of Lord .TeiTicoe. The suggestion is made that the decision <;oi>cemini; him was a responsibility that must h>t taken by the War vJabinet as a whole. So far as my exp»r"tenee goes, that is not. and neve- ha,s been, tb*» method, in which appointments of this kind are regulated. My recollection i* that in the case, of a former First Sea Lord, Sir Henry Jackson, his appointsiic nt was made before the Cabinet wa-< aware of it. As to otlie- appointments, equally vital, the rule has always been that"" the Minister fb charge of the I>enartment concerned was responsible for the men serving tinder him. I think Mr .McKenna will bear me out that during the last Government the appointments of_ the -Commander-in--Chief in France and of the Chief of the Donera- Staff were made by the War Sec rttary without- other Ministers beine aware of what was being done. "It is the right method. The First Lord must ,be responsible for those who serve nndsr. him, and it is the sp.nio in the Army. It would be a very bad precedent if the House of Commons laid down the- ruling that a change of that kind should not b e made except after full discussion i n the Cabinet." He admitted the existence of a practice that Ministers should obtain the approval of the Prime Minister. "In such circumstances as these it is inevitable-that ..he responsibility must Pe divided between th e Minister' at the head of the' Department and the Primo Minister.

"I understand that Sir Eric Gedde* said that some other members of the War Cabinet were consulted. I was one, but it was almost oy an accident. The Prim~ e Minister sent a messenger to me, and I went to the Cabinet room. The First Lord- said he had come to the conclusion that it was essential in the public interest there ought to be a change in the First Sea Lord. I did not attempt to differ. If Sir Edward Carson had Been available the Prime Minister would doubtless have sent for him."

"He would have got very good ad vice!*' saicT Sir Jtawanl Carson.

'"I .dp not doubt it,'' replied Mr Bonar Law. '""But, after all, ami iMinlster is liable to make a mistake. It is possible that Sir Edward Carson is right and that Sir Eric Geddes is .wrong. But the responsibility is that of the First Lord. I gather that if Sir Edward Carson had been Fiivt Lord no change would have taken place?" "I should have resisted the puttin" out of Jellicoe,*' said Sir Edward. Cai> son.

JVJr Bonar Law said the House should give the First Lord the credit that there was nothing personal in the decision If Sir Eric foiUHMr-ffccessarv in the public interest to make the change, h e did it for that reason, and for that alone.

Mr MXenna reminded the House that the First Lord had said he conveyed the dismissal to Lord Jelicoe as the decision 01 the Government. .Sir .Eric Geddes: 1 hope the House will excuse my inexperience of the way in which thes things are put, 1 thought that the advice which I gave, when accepted by the Prime .Minister, became a. decision of -the ■Government. Fron the day I became First -Lord to the da Lord Jellicoe left thre was never by word or suggestion any pressure brought upon me. to change any officer in the Admiralty. Air. Bonar Law concluded his interrupted speech by stating that Sir Eric was so unwilling to take this step that he more than once told him (iMr Bonar Law) that he would have been glad if it had been possible for him to get some other employment, so that he would not have been compelled to undertake a duty which he regarded as disagreeable. Air. Bonar Law assured the House that the Prime Minister and Sir Eric Geddes had both told him in private that the Press campaigns had nothing whatever to do with the action they took as to Lord Jellicoe. There was no member 01 tho Government who would not think it a desijituble course to try by publi< pressure to discredit the reputation of men who were serving their country (Cheers.) " Mr Pringle said they knew there han been a continuous campaign in the Press against Lord Jellicoe, and the knew what was the result of that campaign.- They now saw Lord Rothermere, Lord Beaverbrook, and Lord Xorthcliffe holding official appointments. It was no; use saying there was no Press influence' in Downing Street. Everybody knew it. The Press campaign could have been stopped if the Prime Minister had lifted his little finger.

Commander Bellairs insisted that the reason for Lord Jellicoe's departure must necessarily remain secret. He h< lieved one point was the defence of the 'Straits of 'Dover. Since then the Straits had been closed and submarines pre vented from going through. Dr. Macnamara, replying to other points raised in the debate, said the pensions granted to the widows and orphans of mercantile ratings had been raised so as never to be below the minimum" scale for the widows and children of seamen in the ißoyal Navy, and in certain cases they might be greater, 'Recent changes "at the top" in the shipyards were in the direction of efficiency. The debate then ended.