BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1915, Page 5

BRITAIN.

INCREASE IN IMPORTS. DUE TO COLONIAL PRODUCTS. Received Dec. 4, 8.30 p.m. London, Dec. 4. For the half-year ended September 30 the Port of London authority handled 1,472,060 tons of imports, as compared with 1,117,093 tons for the corresponding period of 1914. The increase is largely due to wool, meat, and other Australian and New Zealand products. ALIEN IN THE WAR OFFICE. COUSIN OF GERMAN GENERAL. London, Dec. 3. There i» a newspaper outcry against Mr. Tennant's admission in the House of Commons that Mrs. Saville, who is of German birth, and wife of the rector of an East Coast parish, is employed at the War Office. Further questions given notice of state that the lady is a cousin of General Bothmer, German commander on the Strypa. It is also reported that Admiral von Tirpitz's son WB3 Mr. Saville's guest prior to the war. MRS. SAVILLE'S DEFENCE. ADMIRAL VON TIRPITZ AS A PAYING GUEST. Received Dec. f>, 5.5, p.m. London, Dec. 4. Mrs. Saville states that she has not visited Germany for thirty years, and has not possessed an atom of sympathy for Germany. She regarded her employment in the War Oflice as some compensation for removing her from her East Coast home. Admiral von Tirjrits had never visited her home, though in one instance Lady Somerset had opened negotiations to take him as a paying guest, but the idea fell through. MUNITIONS WORKERS. SUNDAY LABOR TO BE DISCONTINUED. Received Dec. 5, 5.5 p.m. London, Dec. 4. The committee appointed to inquire into the health of munition workers recommends the discontinuance of Sunday labor, and emphatically declares that if the maximum output ■is to be kept up for any length of time a weekly rest during the period is imperative. BRITAIN'S "LITTLE FATHER." DECORATES HEROIC SONS. Received Dec. 5, 5.5 p.m. London, Dec. 4. The King, at Buckingham Palace, decorated ten soldiers who have won Victoria Crosses, four Australians being included. He warmly shook hands with them, and congratulated them on winning the proud distinction. One V.C. man describes the King thus: "He makes you feel that he takes an interest in you; he is somethong like a father who is proud of his sons." The King is still weak. IN GERMAN PRISONS. London, Dec. 3. In the House of Commons Lord Robert Cecil said the consensus of opinion was that the condition of the prisoners in Germany was better, but far from satisfactory. THE RECRUITING CAMPAIGN. London, Dec. 3. Lord Derby's fresh appeal is:—"Wc shall know by December 11 whether the men between 19 and 40 are prepared to give the army the force required. Impartial tribunals will weigh the arguments of recruits having difficulties or as regards indispensable appeals for eligibles to put the country's interests before their own. Show the world, allies, neutrals, and enemies alike, that hundreds of thousands of citizens of Great Britain are ready to fight for her. ROWDY COLONIALS. London, Dec. 3. In the House of Commons Mr. Jowett referred to colonial soldiers breaking up the anti-conscription meeting in the Memorial Hall. Sir John Simon said the police attended, but were not called to deal with a breach of the peace. Mr. Ponsonby asked if it was not contrary to the regulations for uniformed soldiers to incite to violence. Sir John Simon said the question should bo ad- ; dressed to the War Office. He had no | information that soldiers were called on to lead a mob. •THE NORTHCLIFFE PRESS. AN INGENIOUS DEFENCE. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, Dec, 3. Sir John Simon quoted the Cologne Gazette as authority for the statement that the Times' criticism was encouraging the Germans. The Times oil Thursday published a searching examination of the German press not bearing out in the slightest degree Sir John Simon's contention. Colonel Repington points out that- Sir John Simon stated that the Daily Mail map was published while the action of Bulgaria was in the balance, whereas Bulgaria had declared war three days previously. A'letter from Mr. Stephen Graham with regard to Sir John Simon's charges ,says that nothing has heartened the Germans more than the success of their arms and diplomacy. It is the deliberate jilan of the German press propaganda to hearten us so as to induce jilacknoss, to pretend they are starving and have insufficient, copper and a shortage of shells. Now the idea is that the Germans are ready for peace. The majority of recent heartenine; canards if.'ere from pro-German sources. We ivere heartened as regards Bulgaria, preeoe, and Roumania. The miserable truth is less helpful than the happy lie. The function of the press is not to light the Germans, but to tell us where we '"stand.