MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1918, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

A BAR TO MILITARY MEDAL. AWARD TO NEW PLYMOUTH SOLDIER. London, Feb. 7. A bar to the Military Medal hat- been awarded to a New Zcalander, Sergeant >S. G. Foot. He commanded a platoon after the officer had been wounded. He then encountered a strongly held trench and took prisoner 3!) men with 7 mach-ine-guns, consolidated the ground, and held on until wounded. The Distinguished Conduct Medal has been awarded to 21 New Zealanders. [Sergt. S. 0. Foot belongs t.o New Plymouth. He is an old boy of tl.e Central School, and his mother still lives here. He was first of all awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal, a bar to the medal followed, then a Military Medal and now a bar to that. It will therefore be seen that lie has put up a unioue record and one which is a credit to New Plymouth Steven Foot, who is about years old. formei'lv forked nt the Sash and Door Factory) GERMAN LIE FACTORY. BUSY CHEEPING WAR-WEARY ,PEOPLE. London, Fob. 7. A significant German communique intended to cheer the war weary populace gives an amazing account of strikes leading to riots in England through January in which there is no shadow of truth. The communique states:—''Hardly a day passed without crowds in the towns coming into conflict with the police. The riot in London on the 17th was tvpical of affairs generally in England. The crowd fought and worsted the police, putting the latter to flight. "A detachment of Scottish recruits, summoned from the barracks at Shep herd's Bush. was ordered lo fire on the rioters in Oxford Street. The majoritv refused, and Rft of the Scots were arrested. All the windows in Selfridse's Emporium were broken. There were other tumults in the evening in Threadneedle Street " SIR K CARSON'S SUCCESSOR. London, Feb. 7. Tt is reported that Mr. Beaver Brookwill become Minister of Information in succession to Sir E. Carson, with the task of reoraanising British propaganda in Allied and neutral countries. DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZE FUND. London, Feb. 7. The Government will shortly distribute the navy prizt l fund of 12millions, derived from the sale of captured enemy ships and stores. This in sufficient, to give even seaman £3O. The fund •is distinct from i'hc prize bounties awarded for sinking hostile vessels.

CAMBRAI REVERSE. POINTED PRESS CRITICISM. PROMOTION SYSTEM AT FAULT. London, Jan. "22. Replying to a question in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr. Bonar Law said that all documents relating to the German counter-attack at Cambrai were submitted to the War Cabinet. Lieut,General Smuts made a report upon them, which was not subject to revision by Lord Derby, Minister of War, or the War Council. Mr- Bonar Law, who was heckled regarding the Cambrai incident, said he was aware that there was a good deal of public dissatisfaction owing to the non-publication of a detailed account of the inquiry, but the War Cabinet decided that it was not in the public interest to give more information. Mr. .T. Mf Hogge asked if soldiers from the front had been prevented from telling tho facts. Mr. Hollar Law replied: "If the rumors arc the same which have reached me, they are entirely unfounded." Mr. Bonar Law's replies in the House of Commons in regard to the Cambrai set-back have aroused much public criticism, especially the statement that the High Command was not surprise!, and had made adequate •provision to Meet the attack. The critics allege that notwithstanding 1 this statement, numerous changes have been made at the British headquarters in France, where, it is reported, Acting-Lieut.-General Herbert Lawrence became Sir Dougles Haig's chief of staff. A contributor to the Daily Mail asserts that the War Office is the chief obstacle to progress, being imbued with the spirit of professional formalism The brains of the now army,, the journ.i' says, are not being fully availed of, and the best places on the stall' are being kept a close preserve, promotion being confined within narrow limits. The Westminster Gafzette remarilcs upon the criticisms of the Daily Mail writer as tho beginning of a campaign against General Sir William Robertson. Chief of the Imperial General Staff. The' Gazette protests against "this poisonous method of sniping and undermining men in high command." Tho Pall Mall Gazette observer—-"Far-reaching reforms have become inevitable in a system which leaves staff appointments a? the prerogative of regulars. The old vicious system has deprived us of the brain power in the new army. All posts in the armv and navy must be thrown open to ability, iron whatever class it may spring." j The Evening Standard says:—"Rightly or wrongly, a public impression has been created that failures in the higher ranks are not punched with the sever meted out to subordinates, that insufficient use is made of the talent in thl* new army, and that there is 'a certain lack of imagination in the high command. If the full truth is told in regard to Cambrai it will be found that the misfortune was due to a serious first-line failure."