BRITISH PARLIAMENT ADJOURNS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2527, 30 July 1915, Page 5

BRITISH PARLIAMENT ADJOURNS

SPEECH BY MR. ASQUITH ■■ NO HISTORIC RESUME THE SUPPLY OF MUNITIONS BT Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. 'July 29, 8.40 p.m.) Londen, July 29. • The House of Commons was crowded in anticipation of an historio resume of the war. Mr. Asquith,. however, after justifying' the adjournment on the ground that members of the House of Commons were not going ; holiday-mak-ing, but that many were going to duties even more important than those at St. Stephens, declined to make a lengthy detailed statement regarding the present situation or tlio future conduct.of. the war. •,*• * ,: . In moving the adjournment of the House until September 14, ho-said: "The success of the War Loan has done as much as anything to convince the world, particularly our Allies, that we are determined to devote the whole of our .resources to the successful prosecution of the war." Since the outbreak of the war the . Press, with one or two melancholy and notorious exceptions— (Loud applause^—had discharged its duties with admirable restraint. Members of the House of Commons had also discharged their duty of criticise l m an admirable, patriotic manner. -Mr. Asquith, in justifying the adjournment, alluded to the enormous increase m the number of questions and the intolerable strain on the Stato Departments. He regretted that the action of the House of Lords had necessitated a< postponement of -the Pensions Bill until after, the adjournment, when no hoped it would bo carried by general consent. Meanwhile pensions and allowances would continue as before the war.

The Allietl Forces. There would, be a further contest of endurance, and we wouhV he ungrateful and insensitive if we did not recognise at this moment the" indescribably gallant efforts of our Russian allies to stem the tide of invasion and maintain inviolate the integrity of their position. Hp thought that in the whole of military history there had not been a inore magnificent example of discipline, patient, endurance, and botlr individual and collective initiative, than had been shown''by the Russian Army during tho last eleven months. The Italians were steadily gaining ground, and making their.way. towards th«lr rthiwt've, which it yap teliw.H . tHew: rsasft., As

for ourselves and the French, we had been fighting side by side for a. year. Ho believed there had never been armies inspired with a- more complete and a more unreserved spirit of fraternity "and comradeship or more confidence that victory would ultimately be theirs. Our confidence in the Gallipoli operations was undiminished. Our naval position was now far stronger than before the war. Serious as the submarine menace might appear for the moment, it was not going to inflict fatal or even substantial injury on British trade ; food and raw material were coming jn as in times of peace. The recruiting for the ArmJ'had been highly'satisfactory, and the latest returns were amongst tlio best we had had for a long time. The production of munitions had been organised on a basis which he was satisfied would bo adequate to 'our requirements. Faint-Haarts and Backbiters. Reviewing the twelve months, Mr. Asquith asked whether there could be greater calumny than to' suggest that the British people had not risen to the '.heights of a great occasion. (Cheers.) But it was still a greater calumny upon our Allies to suggest that they did not realise or appreciate to thefuli tlio contribution we were making to the ultimate triumph of a common cause. ■

"Let none," added Mr. Asquith, "give any encouragement to the fainthearted, still less to the backbiters, who are doing what they can to dishearten the Allies and encourage our enemies. Let all continue in the spirit which has inspired the efforts of the past twelve months and persist and persevere to the inevitable triumphant issue." (Prolonged cheers.) Mr. Asquith added that as the result of « recent confcrence at Boulogue, the Government was setting up ten additional arsenate.. •

An Amendment. Sir Henry Dalziol (Liberal) moved an amendment—"That tho House of Commons adjourn for a month.". He said he was not satisfied with the position in Flanders. It had been understood there was to bo a great advance in the spring. Ho also wanted to know why so much notico had been'given the Turks by the fleet's; bombardment without tlio cooperation of the = land forces. It was impossible for him to keep quiet longer, as'he had not_ tho confidence in the Government which he had nine months ago. Mr. Lloyd George- had said the war would have been praptically. over already if thero lutd been , adequate equipment. If so, who was responsible ? Had anyone_been cashiered? Was it still the policy to use gas against the enemy? If so, why the extraordinary delay? Moreover, nothing had been done to deal with the cost of living, whieji was the root cause of discontent lending to strikes. Sir A. B. Jlarkiiain (Liberal), in seconding the amendment, deplored tho fitnl. that Mr. Asqtiith had described the ccltlcj iJH h»«kh|lflfß.. JbtAßaullli fetwwsiL

expression did not refer to members of the House of Commons. The amendment was not pressed. Mr. Asqnith's motion was carried. Tlie Munitions Question. Mr. Lloyd George, Minister for Munitions, then made a statement as to the progress of the munitions output. He paid a tribute to a number of business men ivho had given their services. His work was twofold; it consisted of tlie speeding up of existing contracts and the opening up of fresh sources of supply. More work bad been allocated than could be digested. _ The census of machinery in the United Kingdom showed that only a fifth of the machines had been employed on Government work and were used on nightshifts. The arrangement of two or three shifts daily in order to 'employ these machines would enormously increase tho output. The Ministry, by arranging cooperative areas, had greatly increased tho prospect of receiving sufficient shells for tho Ai-my. Within a. few weeks sixteen national factories had been established.

Mr. Lloyd George, continuing, said that tho Government had established an Inventions Branch, to act hi conjunction with' Lord Fisher's Admiralty Inventions Board. During tho past«month the,number of men and women munition workers had increased by forty thousand. Nearly half that number were skilled. One hundred thousand volunteer munition workers had been enrolledj the bulk of t whom belonged to engineering and shipbuilding trades. Employers, ho added, had raised objections regarding eighty thousand of the volunteers, _ and a body of business men, representing various trades,' was now investigating their protests. Tho Ministry of Munitions would be satisfied if it could use twenty thousand volunteers, as it would mean industrial disaster to move men wholesale' about the country. . .... Mr. Lloyd George said that within a month thousands of highly skilled men who had enlisted had been released. Lord Kitchener had arranged-for many thousands more to return to the engineering shops within the - next few weeks. Ho regretted that at present he could not make a very satisfactory report regarding the relaxation of trade union rules and practices. The suspension of theso practices was equivalent to adding hundreds of thousands of men to these yards. He was unable to make the men realise how vitally, important it was without giving figures, which ho dared not give. Ho pointed out that a solemn undertaking had been given that trade union rules relaxed during tho war would be. fully restored in peacetime. The Government had also given an undertaking that the rates of wages should not bo reduced if tho output wero increased.

Under the scheme the national factories would produce cheaper shells, and there would bo better control and less difficulty regarding labour. These national factories were working side by aide with private firms. Steps wero being taken to create special factories and increase the component parts of shells, also machinery and tools, of which hitherto they had been alarmingly short. The new great programme arranged at Boulogne would considerably tax the engineering resources of the c'ountry for some months. In the course of a few weeks the output of shells would be doubled and enable the Allies to cleave a, way to victory.- The men wero working hard. He warned plotters to keep their hands and tongues off the Ministry of Munitions, and begged to be allowed to get on with his work. (Cheers.)