SPEECH BY MR ASQUITH.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 193, 23 April 1915, Page 5

SPEECH BY MR ASQUITH.

AUWtBSS TO WOEKEBS. g$ THE POSITION EXPLAINKD.: ;;- . LONDON, April M, .. J£t. Aaquith (Prime Minister) ad-.> ; dressed five thousand munition makers at the Palace Theatre, Newcastle. He received an enthusiastic reception. He said he desired to speak through - : them to the workmen of the whole north-east coast. Is no area of the British Empire, not even in Flanders • or Prance, were our national fortunes more intimately bound up with the en- , ergies and patriotism of those wbe were now called upon to render their, best services to the State. There was not the least ground for apolog,y orpanic. We were now in the nintfe month of the most momentous war i» the world's history. " The materia) . forces arrayed were unexampled in extent, but vast as they were, they were •not disproportionate to the moral lEr sues involved. ''•- ??. ".-■■: ;. Foreseeing this wu'e world-shaking* . possibilities, he continued, the Govern- •> meat did its utmost to prevent its owf- v break or narrow its dimensions. "WhoJ> we were certain that we were confront:-, ed by the insensate ambition and ma-

tare and calculated designs of a Power which set the public law of Europe at defiance and menaced the free development of all that was hopeful and progressive in its constituent States, this country realised the magnitude and the gravity of the part which the people of our ielands and Empire were called upon toYplfcy. The-re were no signs iri any/ quarter of. the King's Dominions of the flagging of the national spirifc.The demand for men and material w so vast that it might be said that ther whole nation was partaking in the war. In the coal trade 217,000 mirieys had enlisted —a splendid record. This; had caused an influx of : 70,000 £rott» other trades who stepped into the gap> but the diminution of the coal output amounted to 12 per cent, of the Tio*ma> output, while the demand due war had risen above the normal. Heurged the utmost effort on the part of the remaining miners. Their services . would be as fruitful to the country as. if they were called for from employe?, 1 worker,, and taxpayer alike. He beliey* ed that all were willing to contribute to the burden of war. Their saerifiCfcS' were the limitation of profits, the tem--porary suspension of restrictive rules,, and the provision of reasonable compensation in cases of injury or loss. There was no man worthy of the name of Britisher who was not taking parfe and there were few houses which 1 had not spontaneously Contributed their best manhood to the army a««i ■ navy. We had obtained the finest attil '■ largest body of men that had ever followed the colours. This spirit of selfsacrifice enabled us to make the casualties good. The same spirit was required in other important departments of the war. This was a w*ar not only of men but of material. The miner, the iron and textile worker, the railwayman, the docker, were called on U) . maintain the supply of munitions, with- : out compulsion, but there must be a mutuality of sacrifice between the masters and men and the taxpayers. Hewas not there to impute remissness He did hot believe that any army ov navy had ever cutered upon a eain.paign better maintained and equipped. Thero was not a word of truth in thestatement published as to our work be- : ing crippled for lack of ammunition. If true, it would discourage ouo Allieft; and encourage our enemies. It was not true that the Government was only lately alive to the urgency and importance of having miners appointed to Lord Kitchener's committee. It was not true that there, had been a general slackness on the part of employers ami workmen. The situation was due n the unprecedented scale in which an munition had been expended on both sides, the shortage of skilled labour, the multiplication of plant and machinery, and the success of recruiting. As a profit, all agreed that those supplying munitions should not be entitled to an undue profit. The trades. unions might be sure they were not prejudicing their interests by temporarily waiving or suspending their rules. He wanted to make it clear that firms suffering by the transfer of labour or inability to carry out civil contracts should receive adequate and prompt compensation. The first deficiency to be made good was skilled labour in the munition factories, and the next was to utilise works devoted to other purposes for the manufacture of munitions. He reminded them of their promise that master and man would deliver the goods. That was all the Government asked. Those remaining at home supplying the needs of the Country might show heroism as patriotic as those who were hazarding their lives in the firing line.