GENERAL ITEMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16538, 11 November 1915, Page 5

GENERAL ITEMS

DEBATE IN THE LORDS. LORD LOREBURN BRANDS HIS CRITICISM. " IRREGULAR,. IRRESPONSIBLE, AND MISCHIEVOUS." LONDON, November 9. During the debate in the House of Lords, at the commencement of his speech Lord Loreburn regretted that legitimate sources of information were choked up. A veil had been cast over many of our misadventures. Information was lacking in regard to the loss of Admiral Cradock's squadron, the Antwerp expedition, the loss of the three cruisers torpedoed in the North Sea, the Dardanelles expedition, and the shortage of munitions. These were not ordinary or inevitable mishaps of war; they meant incapacity somewhere. In his opinion the formation of a coalition Government was a misfortune for the country, because it deprived the country of restrained criticism from responsible men, and substituted irregular, irresponsible, and even mischievous criticism. The Government should not hold out expectations to nations that were confronted with extreme peril unless it was sure it was in a position to make them gocd by timely and sufficient force. The Government had no right to commit this country beyond its resources. It was no exaggeration to say that if-the war went on indefinitely revolution and anarchy might well follow. Speaking after Lord Milner, Lord Courtney said the situation at the Dardanelles was a situation of impossible adventure. We commanded the sea, but could not get the German fleet out. There was the same pause, the same impassibility in the naval as in the military situation. There must be some escape from this impasse.

Lord Curzon accepted the argument that it was unwise to embark on military operations without attaching the fullest weight to expert opinionl It was not always possible, however, to dissociate the military from the political view. The Government had sent a man to the eastern theatre who could advise them, not in the capacity of a politician, but as the country's greatest soldier.