Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 14, 17 May 1915, Page 5

Great Britain

OBJECTION TO GERMANS. DEBATE IN THE COMMONS. TI.JEB and Sydney Sun Service. London, May 15. 1 During the debate in the House of Commons on Mi - Asquith's statement as to the internment of aliens, Mr Bonar Law (Leader of the Opposition), said he welcomed the announcement. It was, he said, quite evident that the country was thoroughly aroused and liable to get out of hand. Nobody could be surprised at that, however much they deplored such a state of affairs. Knowing these outbreaks were occurring in the country, the whole instincts of the country, however stVongly it may feel, considered they ought to he prevented. The nation was now realising that this was not a war between armies, but between nations, and that every individual, whether civilian or soldier, must throw his weight into the scale. He had persistently avoided taking any ishare in the responsibility for the action of the Government over which he 'could have no possible control, but this question was so serious from the viewpoint of national credit that he took the liberty of discussing with Mr (Asquith. He agreed "with the Government proposals, as he could not suggest better. At a time like this there could be no neutrals in Britain. Everyone must be either lor or against us. The claims of naturalised aliens should be dealt with justly on their merits. Lord Robert Cecil declared that after the recent outrages it was not right to think that the Germans were incapable of any crime, or to assume they would act as ordinary humans.

Sir R. A. Cowper stressed the necessity for speedy measures, owing to the danger of London being set afire. He had reason to believe there was an organised plot for that purpose. Sir A. B. Markham accused the Government of interning a wretched waiter and allowing a high-placed German (Baron Schroder) to continue his business. He assumed the baron was left free because he was rich. Mr Asquith denied that Baron Schroder had became naturalised for financial reasons, but for the benefit of credit in the City of London. Sir A. B. Markham urged that German Privy Councillors should be interned.

Mr Asquith, replying, refused to regard naturalised Germans as spies and enemies. He was shocked to know that British workmen refused to associate with a naturalised German with three sons in the British army, and he believed the workers would repudiate this stain on their class. The great body of aliens in Britain were decent, honest, and resepctable people, and to instigate a vendetta against them would not only be disgraceful from a moral viewpoint, but impolitic from the viewpoint of the best interests of the country. It was impossible to conceive anything more ill-advised and discreditable than the recent looting and plundering. That was not the spirit or methods in which a sane, sober, selfrespecting population dealt with such |a problem. Capetown, May 15. General Botha sent a message to the people of the Union, deploring the riots, which were discouraging the troops from lighting an honest, clean fight. ««A CLEAN SWEEP." Times and Sydney Sun Skbviob. , (Received 8.0 a.m.) London, May 10. The Times, in a leader, says: "The Government at length has decided to make a clean sweep of enemy aliens. It should have been done in August. The feeling, which is general, that the proposals should operate with out regard to social condition is most dangerous. Not the poor, but the Government is largely to blame for the wild deplorable excesses of the last fewdays. The riots in the East End are not local, but have a counterpart throughout the Empire, and are a proof of the intensity of the feeling in repaid to spies wherever the British flag flies. It is the outcome of the state of public anger which, on the passive side, is most thoroughly justified." PULPIT REFERENCES. (Received 8.55 a.m.) London, .May 1(5. Pulpit references are being made to the sinking of the Lusitania and also to the Brvee committee's report on German atrocities. Some of the newspapers contain letters from Germanboiu persons in England denouncing the German barbarities.

EMPIRE DAY MEMORIAL.

Times and Sydney Sun Service. (Received 8 a.m.) London, May 10. Lord Meat!) suggests a national memorial for Empire Day. THE SPORT OF KINGS. Times and Sydnky Sun Servicb. London, .May 10. Many members of the House of Commons are petitioning the Jockey Club to reconsider its decision to continue racing. THE LUSITANIA'S PEAD. Times and Sydney Sun Servioh. (Received 8 a.m.) London, May 16. The Cunard Company is offering £1 for each body, and the American Consul is offering £2 for the American corpses recovered from the Lusitania. STRIKES SETTLED. ANTI-GERMAN RIOTINC INCIDENTS. DEALING WITH SLACKERS. POSTPONING ENGLISH ELECTIONS. ' iinttw Frem Association. (Received 10.10 a.m.) London, May 16. The tramways strike has ended. Nearly all the London and Woolwich arsenal service continues. Doncaster races have been abandoned. The anti-German rioting in London has ceased. The Magistrates severely punished the hooligans, and dozens were sent to prison. In some cases British, Russian and Italian shops were raided.

The Maypole Dairy at Winchester was wrecked owing to the manager having expressed pro-German sympathy.

Beginning to-morrow the Clyde Unions will weed out slackers, shirkers and drinkers with fines ranging fiOir; twenty shillings to sixty shillings in first instance on those not working full hours, and for repetition of the offence sterner measures will be taken Some newspapers state 'the Government and Opposition have agreed that the General Election, due in November, shall be postponed for half-a-yeav, or till after the war is over. DODGING PAYMENT. GERMANS UNLOAD TO DUTCHMEN. (Received 10.10 a.m.) Amsterdam, May 16. Shares representing one quarter of the Holland-America's capital, hitherto in the hands of German steamship companies, have been transferred to Dutchmen. MISCELLANEOUS. Luited PaxE* Association. London, May 14. The London tramwaymen have struck, demanding a war bonus of 3s weekly. The casualties of officers of the British army and navy for the past fortnight number 1 (37-1. Clyde employers and workers telegraphed to Sir John French and Admiral Jellicoe that they may expect the last ounce from the Clyde at the earliest possible moment. English armament-making towns are working at full pressure. Men above the enlistment age are arriving at Barrow from Canada, and hundreds of girls from France are expected at Barrow for work in the factories. The sum of £IO,OOO received from various New Zealand funds yesterday brought up the Belgian Fund to £234,000. At a crowded meeting at Chelsea to protest against the German barbarities, Lord Charles Beresford and Lord Robert Cecil were the principal speakers. A resolution was carried calling upon the Government to proclaim the personal responsibility of the Kaiser and others in authority. Speakers demanded the confiscation of German property in England worth £84,000,000, also the internment of wealthy Germans and the confiscation of German ships within the Empire. Lord Cecil instanced cases of cruelty to wounded travelling British by direct orders from German staff officers. A number of wounded New Zealanders have arrived at Birmingham and Chichester. The Hon T. Mackenzie is inquiring regarding their condition and requirements, and is visiting them.

GENERAL. A momorjal signed by 131 naturalised members of the Stock Exchange has been presented to the Lord Mayor, declaring their loyalty and denouncing the German atrocities. The voluntary surrender of many aliens continues, and the police are arresting hundreds of others. Five hundred young Germans have been sent to a detention camp. The rounding-up of aliens is quietening the East End. where rioting is subsiding. Berlin,-May 15. Public opinion professes to be indignant at the internment of Germans and Austrians in Britain. Newspapers threaten reprisals on all civilians and officers in Germany. .Many of the public are surprised at the internment, believing that all German civilians had long ago been interned as in Germany.