The Press. FRIDAY, February 22, 1918. The Crisis in Britain.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16143, 22 February 1918, Page 6

The Press. FRIDAY, February 22, 1918. The Crisis in Britain.

jae accounts of the debate in the jpuse of Commons on tho Allied "War j|uncil represent Mr Lloyd George as j|ving scored another Parliamentary fpcess, but it is nevertheless appar--1 jt that there still remain the elements |ja crisis 'which, may result in a change jij Government. In, the first account I kich. was given of the new Council — jlj Mr Bonar Law, foe Mr Lloyd •jwrge, on November 12th last—it was lilted ihat the Council would consist of | p Prime Ministers, each of whom ■ old. have a military adviser indcj ident of the General Staff of his j mtry, and that the Council would ve no executive powers. Each Gomment, advised by its own Staff, nld keep lie responsibility for the ion of its own forces. On his return in Paris Mr Lloyd-George, replying ; enquiries from Mr Asquith, endorsed i amplified Mi; Bonar Law's state- ■ int. He conveyed the impression that i k new Council would not over-ride the jitish General Staff and the Com--1 '

mander-in-Chief. A few days later he recovered all the ground that he had lost in the discussion of his Paris speech by a very able defence, in the House of Commons, of the arrangements mauo for co-ordinate control. He showed that co-ordination of the kind decided upon had been recommended, not by the politicians, but by the soldiers, and gave tho House an assurance that re was opposed to unity of command and

to tho granting of executive powers to the new "War Council. I'p to this point, so far as one can judge from the newspaper reports of the controversy inside and outside Parliament, the opposition to Mr Lloyd George eould bo traced to a desire in many quarters that the British Government and the British General Staff should not give tip any of their independence and that the staff and the Field Commands should not be interfered with. Lately, however, it has become evident that other factors have entered into tho situation. Sir Wiiliam .Robertson, unwilling to remain Chief of the General Staff under a rearrangement which made him subordinate to the Versailles Council — which has turned out to have executive powers alter all —and equally unwilling

to become a party to the new arrangement, by going to Versailles as the British representative, bus Tesignod; and Sir William has a higher reputation than any other soldier in the world. Mr Lloyd Georgo is accused by so sober a critic as the "Spectator" of prompting a newspaper campaign against our generals, and he is widely regarded as being under tho influence of Lord Xortiiclifle, whose motives an increasing multitude of people cannot wholly trust. In 6pite of Mr Lloyd George's brilliant delcnce of his policy, there is evidently a mass of unsatisfied discontent, some of which anyone can understand, but some of which must remain a mystery for the present.

It is a grievous thing that anything like a crisis should develop at' the present time, when we are expecting the great German offensive which Mr Lloyd Georgo last week described as tho menace which the Versailles Council was intended to avert. For the present the crisis has passed, and if it does not recur, We may be a bio to look back upon it with satisfaction, for it is possible that it is the beginning of the end of the excesses of the Northcliffo section of tho Press. Mr Asquith, in his spcech in reply to Mr Lloyd George, mentioned that ho had been accused of Boloisni for his temerity in seeking information This fact is the measure of tho intolerance and intimidation which have been allowed, under Mr Lloyd George's Prime Ministership, to grow up in Britain. Mr Lloyd George has lately heaped honours upon Lord Northcliffo and his relatives, and he is regarded as sympathising with the attacks of tlie Northcliffo Press, which have led to tho retirement of eminent military and naval leaders. It is little wonder that men of all parties are beginning to resent this baneful trespass by the Press beyond its legitimate domain. Special significant attaches to Mr Austen Chamberlain's declaration, at a meeting of the Unionist War Committee, that tho Government must freo itself from Press entanglements, lor Mr Chamberlain is a loyal and unselfish supporter of the Government, and tho last man to associate himself with any movement, at a time like the present, which has any purpose but tho preservation of the highest national interests.