MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 March 1919, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

ARMY ESTIMATES. rou 3i million men. Received March 4, 7.45 p.m. London, March 3. In the House of Commons Mr. Churchill, when moving the army estimates providing for three and a half million men, pointed out that the figures were provisional, owing to the uncertainties of the future. Much depended on the amount of the indemnity Germany had to pay. We possessed all the means for coercing Germany, which wa3 starving and dangerously near a collapse. We could allow Germany to import food and raw materials the moment she signed peace.---Aus. N.Z. Cahle Assoc. THE BRITISH ARMY, A MILLION AND A HALF BEING DEMOBILISED. Received March 4, 9.30 p.m. London, March 3. Tho Army estimates for 1919-20 amount to £287,000,000. A White Paper estimates the maximum number of the army at the end of March, exclusive of those serving in India, at 2£ millions, which number will be rapidly reduced to 052,000, of whom 403,600 will comprise the armies of occupation on the Rhine, including France and Belgium, and 308,400 will be in the Middle East. The home and colonial establishments total 240,000. Among the 1,548,000 in course of demobilisation arc 325,000 Dominion troop* —Aus. and N.Z. Cable Assoc. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S VIEWS. BRITAIN'S SEA-POWER UNCONTROLLED. Received March 4, 7.40 p.m. London, Feb. 28. . Sir Joseph Ward is paying a brief visit to L mdon. He returns to Paris on Sunday. Interviewed, he said he believed the peace conditions would be exacting. Everything was being done to speed up the conference work. He did not believe that there was any likelihood of Britain's sea-power being limited or controlled by i the League of Nations.—Aus. and N.Z. j Cable Assoc. CONTROL OF PAPER CEASES. Received March 4, 7.50 p.m. London, Feb. 28. S°>r Albert Stanley announced that the control of paper will cease in April.— Aus. and N.Z. Cable Assoc. USE OF BARLEY. Received March 4, 2.15 p.m. London, March 3. The Food Controller permits the unrestricted use of barley except for malt, and has revoked the orders restricting the amount of cereals allowed horses and the quantity of low-grade sugar purchaseablo by brewers.—Aus. N.Z. Cable i Assoc, and Reuter.