MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 February 1917, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

SPEECH BY BRITISH PREMIER, j i SITUATION 1, REVIEWED. HE SUBMARINE MENACE. AN APPEAL TO THE NATION. [Renter Service.) London, Feb. 4. Mr. Lloyd George, addressing his constituents at Carnarvon, pleaded for ;i fair trial of the new Government. It lad already saved hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping, and arranged for the construction of hundreds of thousands of new tonnage. He eulogised the Munitions Department. When the time came to supply shot, shell, and guns of all calibres there would he ample, even a surplus, for the Allies. The present muddle in the Balkans tfas due to the improvidence, hesitation, and lack of imagination of the Allies They were jointly blameable, but the Balkans was the only theatre causing jmxiety. Germany's latest sea policy revealed the Goth in all his nakedness. Even to the most indulgent neutral Germany's offer to allow America to send one (steamer weekly to Europe was indolence almost amounting to insanity. We should overcome the submarine menace by grit, energy, and courage. The nation must support with money, labor, land, and courage. There could not be p*ace without anxiety, nor could there be peace without victory. Tlicy must demonstrate that the Prussian Baal was a false God, that couldn't protect itself, let alone the Oerman people.

Peace would come in 1017 if Germany knew that by holding out till 191S she would/be worse off. Urged by necessity the British Empire was organising all its resources. "We can and will do more than we are doing at present.'' With the object of seeing what could be done, the first Imperial Cabinet would commence its sittings jn a few weeks. It was unthinkable that great Herman territories could be disposed of after the war without consulting the Dominions, since they had shed their blood in acquiring them. The Dominions must share the responsibility of considering this issue, as part of the settlement of the great world problem following the world-war.

Mr. Llovd George appealed to the nation to help in achieving victory by subscribing to the war loan, growing food, and economising in consumption. He added: "The assistance we ask the public to give must be given without delay. There must be no loitering, n > lingering. Time, •which is hesitating, nnd has perplexed neutrals, has not yet decided on which side he is going *o swing his terrible scythe. For the moment the scythe is striking both sides, and causing great havoc. The hour will cume when it will swing finally to one iide or the other. Time is the most deadly of all neutrals. Let us enlist him among our Allies.' The only way to win time iB not to lose time, whether in the workshop, council chambers, or on the field." A new Britain would reappear when the smoke of the great conflict cleared ftwav. Its commerce, trade, and industries would be new. There would he new conditions for capital and labor, and new relations between them and the State. Old principles would survive, but there would be a new outlook. In a few raging years the character and destiny of the whole race would be determined for unknown ages.

CONSPIRACY AGAINST MINISTERS. SENSATIONAL KV7DHXCX. London, Feb. i. At tb' poisoning conspiracy trial at Derby, the Attorney-General, for the •»ro«i«nition, said the prisoners were diiferou* and desperate proplr. Tliev were bitterly hostile to Britain, and ■beitered fugitives from the army. The man was s chemist of considerable and hod specially studied poisons. Tht Government employed an ajj.nl, «ka assumed thi» name of Gordon, and Ingratiated himself with Mr?. Wheelnon. Another agent, tamed 1500111, pretended fo be a fugitive from the army, and a irenrber of the Independent Workers of fke WorW. 'lhi. Wlieeldon told them poison be dropped on articles to lie used. ■Od added: "When I hand the poison to jw I 7aeh my bands, and , will deny met hiring given it." . Ml*- Wheeldon also eaU it had been ■fcimrf th»t when Mi. Uoyd George iliSilit st A hatol, <• <il(« aaQi

departure to Francs tWmcd the scheme.

They also intended doing for Mr, McKeiaia by driving a poisoned needle through his skull. Mason had agreed to provide a particularly rare poison for the pvrpose.

Counsel stated that the poison was contained in four phials. Two were hydrochloride of strychnine, and one the American poison curare, used by the natives for poisoning arrows and boots.

Gordon called on Mrs. Wheeldon 011 January 1. She. indulged in blasphemous language about Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Henderson, and expressed the hope that both would soon be dead. She said Mr. Lloyd George had been the means by which millions of innocent lives had been sacrificed, while Mr. Henderson was a traitor to the people. Mr. Asquith was the brains of the party, but be was neither good enough for heaven nor bad enough for hell. Mrs. Wheeldon apparently intended to get Gordon to commit the actual crime.

Her denunciations included the King. Booth asked her how she intended to carry out the plot, and she replied: "We had plans when the suffragettes spent .£3OO to poison them. When the phials were received from .Southampton, complete instructions for their use accompanied them." The hearing was adjourned.

DEMOBILISATION DIFFICULTIES London, Fell. 4. Several trades unions are considering a levy of a penny weekly to create a fund "to meet laior difficulties during demobilisation. TIMBER COMMANDEERED. Received Feb. 5, 8.10 p.m. London, Feb. 5. The Press' Bureau states that the Army Council is assuming the control of stocks of soft sawn timber, including sleepers, dealings therein being prohibited. POLICY OF FIXED PRICES. A HINT TO THE DOMINIONS. London, Feb. 2. Mi 1 . Piothcro, Minister of Agriculture, addressing farmers at Maidstone, said a policy of fixed prices was the only fair and honest one. It gave the farmer absolute security. There was also the Imperial point of view to be considered. We wanted a great Imperial policy for Britain in order to be aide to say to India, Australia, Egypt and Canada: 'The farmers of Britain have sacrificed their war profits; it is up to you to make a similar sacrifice for the good of tlit Empire. If we are able to get all the Dominions into this great movement we shall be able to snap our fingers a*, the Chicago speculator." Mr. Prothero said he believed they could bring in the eDominions by fixing prices in Britain as the basis key to the whole tiling.

LORD SELBORNE ON EMPIRE UNITY Router Service. London, Feb. 2. Lord Selborne, speaking at the Constitutional Club, said that an Imperial Conference was inevitable. It wouiti have to deal with Empire problems of reconstruction, including the more equal distribution of wealth and a better understanding between the classes. The Dominionswere as equally concerned in that as the Mother Country. The tariff reform question would have to be a;i preached from a perfectly new standpoint. He believed that the only true solution of the problem of drawing the Empire units closer «as to grant autonomous control over their own internal affairs. Sir .Joseph Ward said there must be nn Empire Parliament and an Empire Navy. Mr. .T. Hodge, Minister of Labor, said that after the war he for one was not for shaking Germany's bloody hand. He never again would participate with Germany at labor or other conferences. (Cheer-). BILLING'S LIBEL ACTION FAILS. London, Feb. 2. Mr. Pemberton Billing. M.P., was subjected to a searching cross-examination wtev. suing the newspaper Globe for fjr issuing a placard infoiiing that he employed fi spy to secure information about the air services. Questioned regarding the alleged photograph of a letter sent privately to Mr Balfour, of which the original figured prominently in the House of Commons debate, Mr. Billing stated that a friend at the Admiralty gave Mm the photographs of the letter. Mr. Justice Darling, in summing up, asked if Mr. Billing could fairly complain of the imputation of spying, after bl« admissions regarding hia friend at tin Admiralty. TV *»rdkt *w tor the