BRITISH WAR MINISTRY MEETS THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2483, 9 June 1915, Page 5

BRITISH WAR MINISTRY MEETS THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

NEWSPAPER ATTACKS ON LORD KITCHENER THE MINISTER FOR MUNITIONS BILL London, Juno 7. The House of Commons, with a full attendance of members, warmly welcomed the National Ministry. Mr. Balfour (First Loril of the Admiralty) and Mr. Lloyd George (Minister of Munitions) wete absent. The front Opposition benches had few claimantsj the Radicals invaded the Opposition benches below the gangway. The Labour membor-s stuck to their old quarters on the Ministerial side, and similarly the- Independent Radicals, now reinforced by Mr. F. H. Booth (Liberal member for Pontefract). In reply to a question, Mr. I'cmiant (Under Secretary for War) said that the recent newspaper attacks on Lord Kitchener had appreciably stimulated recruiting. . .... Mr. Asquith stated that Lord Kitchener's last appeal had met with a most satisfactory response .... . ... Alluding to Italy's intervention m the war, Mr.. Asquith caid that they regarded her as one of the custodians of a free Europe, and welcomed her gallant sailors and soldiers as coriirades in the struggle on which the liberty of the world depended. . . Mr. Lloyd Ceorge's Bill. Sir John Simon, moving the second reading of the Minister of Munitions Bill, said that the new Minister would have to concern himself with industrial co-ordination. It was a wide field. ........ , . Some of the Labour members.and Radicals took exception to the unlimited powers conferred by tho Bill, and pointed out that the Minister could socialise the coal. He was practically a dictator. They warned the Government that any attempt to conscript labour would lead to strenuous opposition. Sir John Simon, in reply, said that there was not the slightest intention to so uso tho Bill. V