The Dominion FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1915. BRITAIN'S NATIONAL CABINET

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2503, 2 July 1915, Page 4

The Dominion FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1915. BRITAIN'S NATIONAL CABINET

The events which led up to the formation of the presentational Gov-1 eminent in Great Britain are fully described and explained in the London newspapers which arrived in Wellington this week. The main causes of the crises ,were the strained relations at the Admiralty between j Mr. Winston Churchill aid Lord Fisher, and the feeling that tho manufacture of munitions oi war should be placed on a more satisfactory footing. For some time the impression had been gaining ground that the British troops were fighting at a disadvantage bccausc they were not provided with an adequate supply of shells, and people were beginning to fear that civilian interference in matters of naval strategy might lead to serious disaster. Public opinion at length compelled the Government to take action. On May 19 Mr.- Asquith made a momentous statement in the House of Commons in which he ■ indicated that steps were in contemplation which would "involve a reconstruction of the Government, on a broader personal and political basis." Amid loud cheers he made it abundantly clear that there would be no change of any kind "in the policy of the country in regard to the continued prosecution of the war with all possible energy and by means of every available resource." As a matter of fact the change was made with the object of prosecuting tho war with increased vigour and making fuller use of the country's resources for lighting purposes. Instead of tiring of the struggle Parliament ana people demanded a National Cabinet in order that the soldiers at the front might be enabled to hit harder arid oftener. So strong and insistent was this demand that decisive action became absolutely imperative. The Opposition Leaders indicated that unless the position was resolutely faced they would be compelled to discuss the whole matter in tho i House of. Commons. Such a debate I at such a time would probably have i roused the country to a fever of ex- I citemenfc' One Liberal newspaper declares that it "would have gravely undermined the authority of tho. Government, and, coupled with the tendered resignation of Lord Fisher and the consequent disappearance of the First Sea Lord, Mr, Churchill, ■would in all-human probability have led to the disastrous downfall of the King's Government in the midst of tho national peril of this war, with consequences most lamentable." But tho Opposition had no desire to make party capital out of the Empire's clanger, and was quite willing to come to a friendly . understanding with the Government. The country had come to the conclusion that the time had arrived for reconstructing the Cabinet on a broader and more representative basis. Now that a/ change had become inevitable, all parties realised that a National Ministry must be formed. The progress of events since then has been recorded from time to' time in our cable columns. The new departure seems to have created a good impression in Britain, and it has certainly given the enemy no cause for elation.. Mr. Bonar Law voiced the feelings of the whole Empire when he said that no political considerations should weigh' for a moment against the best arrangement, for conducting the war. The new Government has already done something to. increase the output of munitions and to enable the nation to use its' vast resources to the best advantage.