Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 5, 6 May 1915, Page 6

Great Britain

THE PREMIER’S SENTIMENTS. HIS FINE OPTIMISM. United Pbkbb Association. London, May 4. .Mr Asquith, addressing wholesale and retail traders, said 260,000 out of 480,000 shop assistants of military age had enlisted and also 17,000 shop clerks and travellers out of 310,000. Personally he dissented from th«, views that gravity of the issues was not lolly recognised by our countrymen. Britishers did not need to be flogged and goaded by rhetoric before they could be induced to obey tlie call to duty. Never in our history has duty been recognised more clearly or has obedience been more prompt and unselfish. “I should say to the nation : Yon have made a magnificent, beginning and stemmed the tide of aggression; proceed in the same temper, for there are scill unused, and to tlie enemy unsuspected resources b'hicli you must mobilise and organise to the full.” Mr Asquith added: “1 am not ashamed to call myself an optimist; not that I underrate the prowess of the enemy or the gravity of the struggle*, hut because I believe, first and foremost, in the. righteousness of our cause, and next because I am confident that we will leave, nothing untried or undone to bring that cause to a decisive and glorious issue. There must not be a man or woman who, at tlie end of the struggle, is not able to say: ‘I wasn’t idle in tlie greatest task in the stirring annals of our country which lias ever fallen to the Jot of Britain to achieve.’ ” IN the house of commons. THE LICENSING PROPOSALS. London, May 4. In the House of Commons Mr Chamberlain said it was impossible for the Opposition to accept the licensing proposals. He urged Ml- Lloyd George to consult the Trade. Mr Lloyd George, interposing, said •he was anxious to come to an arrangement with the Trade, which was most patriotic. He was not wedded to any scheme, and would therefore postptone his proposals' until he received a deputation representing the brewers and distillers. Mr Lenar Law said that if the taxes were proceeded with in their present form the Government would raise an agitation similar to the Licensing Bill of 1908. Mr Redmond said no case had been made out for the taxes so far as Ireland was concerned. Mr Henderson said the White Paper introduced an unnecessary controversy. The evidence was only that of employers and officials. The workmen’s side had never been stated or askeej. for. > The income-tax w-ore adopted. Mr Lloyd George declared that he had no doubt as to the ultimate issue of the war; only its duration was in question. It was not now the time to base the financial policy for the whole year, as very much depended oil, the development during the next two or three months. The operations of the summer alone would enable us to form a dependable opinion as to the duration of the war. To the end of the financial year the war cost £307,000,000. The incometax last year realised £59,279,000, and the puper-tax exceeded the estimate by £8,000,000. The national debt now was £1,165,825,000, It was estimated that tlie total revenue would be increased by £43,638,000, making a total of £270,322,000, of which spirits •provided £23,400,000, beer £32,000,000, wine £2,350,000, ami tea £9,000,000. London, May 4. Twenty-two Singapore mutineers were■ conrt-martialled and shot, while twenty-three were transported.