LORD KITCHENER

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10283, 19 May 1919, Page 4

LORD KITCHENER

FREHOH’S CRITICISM . REFUTED STATEMENT BY MR ASQUITH. By Telegraph—Press Association — Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received May 18, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, May 10. Mr Asquith, in a speech at Newcastle, said lie found it difficult and impossible to reconcile some of Lord French’s statements with his own recollection of facts and contemporaneous documents. “The living, he said, can take care of themselves: with the dead it is different. lam constrained in justice to Lord Kitchener’s memory to correct immediately Lord French’s account of Lord Kitchener’s visit to Paris in the autumn of 1914. It iswholly untrue that Lord Kitchener or the Government contemplated superseding General French, hut the Government was seriously disquieted by Lord French’s communications regarding his intentions. Cabinet unanimously arrived at important decisions, and its policy was entrusted to ' Lord Kitchener, with the full knowledge and with the approval of my colleagues. Lord Kitchener's duty was the conveying and explaining them to Lora French, and he thereby performed a service of the greatest value to the country, with, as events showed, the happiest results. " The full disclosure of confidential documents, including Lord French’s letters, will establish all these points in due course, but it is necessary that Lord Kitchener's friends and colleagues should repudiate at once the aspersions oast on him, ' ■ < •

(Received May 19, 1 a.m.) LONDON, May 17. Lord French, in a further instalment of the “Daily Telegraph” story,' says that the bitter lesson of his failure to cross the river Lys at the end of October, 1814, convinced him that under modern conditions, if the forces are fairly equally matched, it is possible to bend but impossible to break the enenjy’s trench line. As soon as he had grasped the truth of his principle he never failed to proclaim it, but eventually suffered heavily for holding such opinions. INCREASED CONTROVERSY PROVOKED. Lord Fijench’s articles have, provoked increased controversy. He has ' the hacking of those who disapproved of Lord Kitchener's administration, but a considerable volume of protest. ■ has arisen. Mr George Arthur says the official records, when published in his forthcoming biography, will show that theT’aris visit was one of Lord Kitchener’s greatest services to the 1 country.

Numerous questions have been given ' notice of in the House of Commons, and efforts are being made to secure a debate. .