GREAT BAITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 141, 7 November 1914, Page 5

GREAT BAITAIN.

; COMMANDEERING VESSELS. i QUESTION OF INCREASED FREIGHTS. ' t Received 6, 10.30 p.m. \ London, November 5. The Admiralty is commandeering an increasing number of vessels equipped with refrigerators, for war purposes. Inquiries elicit that shipowners do not object to the Government taking refrigerated vessels, though others', they say, would serve equally well, as New Zealand firms and some Australians refuse to pay the extra freight. The Admiralty recognise that the' increased cost of coal, insurance, war risks, and other factors justify the extra freight rates. The British merchants have also agreed to pay higher outward freights.

A DAY OF PRAYER AND INTER- ! CESSION. • > * FIRST SUNDAY IX NEW YEAR. 1 THE KING APPROVES. Received 6, 8-5 p.m. London, November o. The Arclibir of Canterbury York have fixed the first Sunday in tinnew year as a day r,i prayer and ini-r----cession on tn-iiaif of tin? Kin;/, tlie Kmpire, the AHww, alid soldiers and tailors, also a day of remembrance of those who have fallen in battle. The King has approved of the proposal, as he considered the beginning of the year a fitting occasion. The Arehbishop3 also announce that the Roman Catholic and Nonconformist churches agree to similarly observe the day. EXPANSION OF BRITISH ARMY.

THE NEW REGIME. GREAT CHANGE FOR BETTER. Received fi, 9.45 p.m. London, November 5. The Times military correspondent saj s that the past three months lias witnessed unparalleled expansion of the British army. The War Office had "neon hampered ai;! starved for years for guns, rifles, ammunition, and clothing, and was unable to make good the deficiencies for several months, but every day brings the realisation nearer. The recruits are much older than the boys usually joining the army, their p'.iysinuc decidedly superior, and the conduct and spirit of the men is all that can be desired. The officers live among and share the labors of the men enlisted to fight, and arc timers for work.

FOOD REQUIREMENTS. j i A LARGE ESTIMATE. I' Eectived U, 8.40 p.m. !' 1-cndon, November C. | The Spanish and American .Ministers • < at Brs- ivls estimate that (K>,MO tons of j; grain, :0,!?50 tors of maize, and 3*XX)' tons of rice and pea; will be needed j< monthly to relieve tlio Belgian*. j CjRAVIXV OF THE STRUCCLK. I A MILLION MORE MEN*. JAPAN'S CO-OPERATION UROKD. London, November 5. The Times, in a leader, says: "Wc arc glad to see signs in many quarters that people are beginning to awaken to the oravity of the struggle, ami t'nc consequences depending on it. The Admiralty's strong measures to prevent iridis : [ criminate scattering of mines on trade routes are unusual and unique, but the present circumstances and many recent disasters fully justify the decision." Lord Charles Beresford, speaking at Croydon, said: '"We arc fighting like sportsmen and gentlemen against cowards, ruffians, and brigands." He believed Britain would need another million men. A score of alien camps have been established in Britain, Ireland, and at Gibraltar. Five hundred aliens have arrived in London, and thousands of cases have been investigated. Dr. Dillon, in an article in the Contemporary, urges that Japan be invited to send troops to Europe. There is a similar suggestion in an anonymous | article in the Fortnightly. . A duchess, member of Parliament, and

friends have given the War Office a motor ambulance column of fifty vehicles for the service of the oversea expedi. tionaries. The Turkish authorities in London assert that the door is not yet closed upon peace. LORD BKYCE'S LECTURE. ON COLONIAL NAVIES. I

London, November 5. Presiding at a lecture at the University ol London on the Defence of the Empire, Lord Bryce said the argument in favor of colonial navies was that they excited greater loyalty, patriotism, and interest. On the other hand, it was doubtless mora convenient that the Admiralty should have the unqualified disposal of every ship flying the ensign whenever urgent necessity arose. Everyone felt th&t centra! cgntrpi wag absolutely necessary in military and Mvai operations, both in the interests of the colonies and of the Motherland. CANADIAN TROOPS. t.ondon, November 5. The King and Lord Kitchener inspected the Canadians on Salisbury Plain. There was intense enthusiasm. The King sent a message that Canada'.-* prompt reply was, of inestimable value, as evidence of the solidarity of the Empire.

AMERICAN COMMENT. New York, November 5. There it much comment in the Press at Germany not taking steps to the victims of war in Belgium, leavinjr the other countries to rejieve them.