In the House of Commons on November 18, Mr. KING asked the UNDER-SECRETARY
FOR WAR whether he could state, without injury to the military interests
of the Allies, whether any Russian troops had been conveyed through Great
Britain to the Western area of the European War.
Mr. TENNANT'S reply:--"I am uncertain whether it will gratify or
displease my hon. friend to know that no Russian troops have been
conveyed through Great Britain to the Western area of the European
War."
The firm and faithful believers in this beautiful tale are not to be
put off so easily as that, and there are so many thousands of faces to
be saved, and such numbers of ear- (if not eye-) witnesses of the
undying exploit, that we really must see if there is not after all
some loophole in the official pronouncement. Let us pause for further
scrutiny and meditations.
Why, of course, here it is. The UNDER-SECRETARY merely states his
imperfect knowledge of the bias of Mr. KING. He does not know whether
his questioner is one of the ardent souls who are ready to pass along
and adorn the latest legend from the Clubs, or a cold-blooded sceptic
fit only to be a Censor.
No, we are not to be done out of our Russians by any mere UNDER-SECRETARY
FOR WAR; certainly not one who is capable of such prevarication. And
anyhow, why should the Germans do all the story-telling?
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