BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 March 1916, Page 5

BRITAIN.

MORE MEN NEEDED, . 6INGLE MEN SHIRKERS. ' ... 'APPEALS BY LORDS DERBY AND KITCHENER. ■ Received March 15, 9,10 p.ie, Londorf, March 15. Lord Derby said ilie intended to remain in tile War Office as long as he , could to assist Lord Kitchener. His I pledge, which was the foundation of the recruiting scheme, had contemplated | some exceptions to the rule for unmarried men to serve first, but Lord Derby said he viewed with great anxiety the i large number that had been exempted owing to their occupations, and the auth- | orities were now reviewing the lists of munition workers and others who had ! recently entered the "exempted" occupations. Cabinet was talcing the matter so seriously that he thought they would get the number of unmarried required. The Germans would not wait while we were putting our house in order, and ttie hoped that by November he would get sufficient young men without putting the married men into the field, but that was not a pledge that the married men would never he called on te fight. He considered that every man ought to do something for his country. Lord Kitchener said that he regretted that during the month his fears had been realised. The original estimate of numbers required had been exceeded, and the deficiency of March showed that it was necessary to call up more groups earlier than it had been hoped to do. He endorsed all Lord Derby had said. He had not any doubt that the single men were avoiding military service; they would be brought in. but it would take time. In the meantime the War Office needed trained men, and he hoped that any appeal made to married men would not fall on deaf ears. The attested married men should place patriotism and the national cause before everything.

IMPERIAL UNITY. SPEECH BY MB. HUGHES, NO "DRIFT" POLICY." Received March 16,10.30 p.m. London, March 15. Mr. W. M. Hughes was entertained at a dinner by the British Imperial Council of Commerce, Lord Desborough presiding. Mr. Hughes declared that the war would decide whether force or law shall rule the world. After referring to the fact that British industry was honeycombed with German enterprise, and the difficulty of cutting out the roots of the cancer, he said we must not only destroy this but build up Britain's post-war trade policy. The British Empire did not consist of Britain alone. The great overseas Dominions had vast territories to develop and great interests to consider . In a quarter of a century, at the present rate of increase, the population would not be far short of Britain's. Her dominions desired to advance her great destinies hand in hand with each other, and Britain and Britain's post-war policy were of vital importance to the Dominions. Details of the policy could not be settled during the war, but they would postpone the broad principles tiil after the war to make the possibility oj a change of policy the remotest. The classing of interests had been harmonised, not only in Britain, but between the Dominions themselves. The public mind was now plastic; the scales had falKm from flieir eyes, and all were able to distinguish the essentials from the trivialities.

What he (Mr. Hughes) was advocating was not merely a change of fiscal policy, and not necessarily tariff reform (though this would probably follow), but a fundamental change of idfcas of government. The whole conception of modern statesmanship needed revision. England had been, and is, the chief sinner. Germany to-day was the best organised nation in the world. Before the war she was the only one. Britain must organise her trade in justice to and defence of the preservation of the world's peace, and for the protection of (.lie weak from the strong. Mr. Hughes ' paid a tribute to France's and Britain's great efforts at organisation since the war. lie said: "We were crumbling to the edge of destruction when Mr. Lloyd George took the munitions question in hand. Thanks to his Gargantuan labor we now breathe easier. The British navv saved us from awful grief and destruction, in fact, saved the civilised world. Miracles will not repeat themselves. Let us take the solemn lesson to heart, put aside all party, class and doctrine, and without delay devise an Empire policy covering e\ory phase of national, economic and •social life. Let us no longer pursue a jiolicv of drift, but set our sail on a definite course." RAID ON THE SINN FEIN. London, March 15. The police searched the houses of prominent members of the Sinn Fein organisation in Cork and seized a quantity of revolvers and ammunition. It is reported that 2000 intend to march in the St. Patrick's Day procession. NO LOTTERIES. London, March 15. The Government has decided against the issue of lottery bonds. A VICTORIAN INVENTION. Received Marcli 1(1, 5.30 p.m. London, March IS. Experts of the Inventions Department and the Ministry of Munitions examined Werry's Victorian aeroplane engines, and are considering their adoption.