the elaborate reply of British theologians (Sept. 30) to an appeal
issued by German theologians to Evangelical Christians abroad. This
appeal described Germany as "confronted in other lands by a systematic
network of lies." It attributed the war to the interference of Russia
in the Servian dispute, complained that Russia had been joined by
those who "by blood and history and faith are our brothers," and said
that against a world in arms, Germans had to defend their existence,
individuality, culture, and honour. "Unnameable horrors" had been
committed against Germans living peaceably abroad, women and children,
wounded and physicians; heathen Japan had been called in under pretext
of an alliance; the mission fields indicated as most important by the
World Missionary Conference, mid-Africa and Eastern Asia, were now the
scenes of bitter rivalry between the peoples specially responsible for
their Christianisation; the signatories, for the sake, not of Germany,
but of the world-task of the Christian peoples in the decisive hour
of the world-mission, addressed themselves to Evangelical Christians
abroad, and repudiated German responsibility for the war and its
consequences to the development of God's kingdom on earth. The British
reply, signed by the two English Archbishops, the Primates of Ireland
and Scotland, the Bishops of London, Winchester, and Ossory, the
Chairman of the World Missionary Conference, and a host of other
Anglican and Free Church divines and University dignitaries, began by
a calm review of the origin of the war, and the violation of Belgian
neutrality. It went on to note the absence of reference to the
teachings of Treitschke and Bernhardi, questioned the allegation of
atrocities, deplored the signatories' severance from German Christians
and the effects of the war in the mission field, and declared that,
dear to them as was the cause of peace, the principles of truth and
honour were yet more dear. They took their stand for international good
faith, the safeguarding of smaller nationalities, and the upholding of
the essential conditions of brotherhood among the nations of the world.
But, though the British people supported the war with practical
unanimity, it was found necessary to stimulate recruiting by a platform
campaign. A more effective method would doubtless have been to give
news from the front; but few details were given of the great battle on
the Aisne, and the feats of particular corps were not mentioned for
fear that the enemy should find out what troops it had to face. War
correspondents, again, were not allowed at the front, and arrangements
to permit them were vetoed, after long waiting, by the War Office.
An official account, by an "eye-witness," was supplied to the Press;
but it contained little that was definite. Popular feeling was
encouraged by the surrender of Duala and the investment of Tsingtau,
and exasperated by the _Emden's_ raid on Madras; but recruiting was
encouraged only by advertisement and by speech-making, following the
Ministerial lead.
The Prime Minister concluded his part in this campaign at Cardiff,
where he addressed a thoroughly representative meeting of 9,000 persons
(Oct. 2). He began by laying stress on the unparalleled unity of the
British Empire in the war, which was due neither to ambition nor to
ill-will. In regard to Germany in particular, British policy had aimed
at establishing a firm basis for cordial relations; Ministers had
repeatedly said that friendships with certain Powers did not imply
coldness or hostility to others; but, as the Foreign Secretary had
said (Nov. 27, 1911), "One does not make new friendships worth having
by deserting old ones." Mr. Asquith then made an important disclosure.
In 1912 the Cabinet had formally notified the German Government that
Britain would "neither make nor join in any unprovoked attack on
Germany." "Aggression upon Germany is not the subject and forms no
part of any treaty, understanding, or combination to which Britain is
now a party, nor will she become a party to anything that has such an
object." But the German Government asked Britain for an absolute pledge
of neutrality if Germany were engaged in war, and this at a time when
Germany was enormously increasing both her aggressive and defensive
forces, especially at sea. Only one answer was possible, but the
British Government had continued, especially during the Balkan crisis,
to work for peace. Both from a domestic and an international point of
view the war could only be regarded as among the worst of catastrophes
for Britain, but not the worst. In the four weeks since his Guildhall
speech (p. 197) every day had increased the sombre and repulsive
features of the German invasion--"worthy of the blackest annals in
the history of barbarism." Had not Great Britain shown herself ready
to strike with all her forces at the common enemy of civilisation and
freedom she could only have gone down dishonoured to her grave. The
world was as ready as ever to respond to moral issues. The new school
of German ethics had taught for a generation that force alone was
the test of right. But in the British Empire they still believed in
the sanctity of treaties, the rights of small nationalities, and the
worth of freedom; and they looked forward at the end of the war to a
Europe in which those simple and venerable truths would be guarded for
ever against the recrudescence of the era of blood and iron. Britain
was confronted by the greatest emergency in her history. There was no
ground for apprehension that the new Army would interfere with the
Territorials, who were fit, according to the considered opinion of one
of the most eminent generals, for any part either in home defence, in
garrison, or in the battle lines at the front. He asked Welshmen to
fill up the ranks of the Welsh Army Corps. Let them remember their past
and leave to their children the richest of all inheritances--the memory
of fathers who in a great cause put self-sacrifice before ease, and
honour before life itself.
The recruiting campaign was now energetically carried on throughout
the country; and in Ireland the Nationalist leaders took a prominent
part in it. Mr. Redmond at Wexford (Oct. 4) did his best to secure
the aid of the Irish National Volunteers, and to promote a general
reconciliation on Home Rule; and he intimated that the Prime Minister
had promised that there should be an Irish Brigade. Mr. Dillon the same
day at Ballaghadareen, Mayo, condemned the efforts to check recruiting
made by Sinn Fein and the Gaelic League; but these, unfortunately, were
not ineffective. Complaints were made of the inadequate accommodation
at the camps (which was mitigated by billeting, or even by allowing the
recruits to live at home while under instruction), of the drunkenness
caused by indiscreet treating by civilian sympathisers, and, in some
cases, of immorality (Chron., Oct. 13), but voluntary effort did much
to counteract these evils and to provide recreation for the men.
But the character of the war was being brought home to England by
other means than the recruiting campaign. On the day the Premier spoke
at Cardiff the Admiralty announced that the German mine-laying and
submarine activities had constrained Great Britain to establish a
minefield in the North Sea south of the German field (which extended to
lat. 52°), and that it was now dangerous for ships to cross the area
between lat. 51° 15' and 51° 40' and long. 1° 35' and 3°, but that
navigation must not be supposed safe in any part of the south of that
sea. This new minefield extended the danger area a line drawn from the
mouth of the Eastern Scheldt to the Thames. On the other hand, it
was encouraging that the Germans were failing to make any impression
on the Allies on the Aisne, and that the German destroyer S 167 had
been sunk off Schiermonnikoog by the British submarine E9 (Oct. 6)
which had recently sunk the _Hela_ (Chron., Sept. 3); still more that
Canada had decided to double her contribution in men and material; that
British airmen had damaged a Zeppelin shed, and perhaps a Zeppelin, at
Düsseldorf (Chron., Oct. 9); that the Home Office had taken effective
measures against espionage (p. 185), though here the reassurance was
only temporarily effective; and that alien enemy residents had been
prohibited from changing their names, or continuing to use names
changed since the outbreak of the war (Oct. 5).
But British confidence was shaken by the unexpected fall of Antwerp,
where the Royal Naval Division, formed in September and consisting
of two Naval Brigades and a Marine Brigade, in all 8,000 men, had
reinforced the Belgian troops. The Marine Brigade of 2,200 men had
arrived on the night of October 3-4, and relieved the Belgians in the
trenches near Lierre, with an advanced post on the Nethe. Through the
exhaustion of the Belgians--coupled with the superior numbers of the
enemy, and the defenders' lack of heavy guns--they were driven back
by several stages on the second line of defence, the Germans on the
5th forcing the passage of the Nethe, which was not under fire from
the trenches. The two Naval Brigades reached Antwerp on the night
of October 5-6; the first assisted in the withdrawal of the Marine
Brigade (under a violent bombardment) on the following night from a
position temporarily occupied to the second main line of defence, and
the Naval Division occupied the intervals between the forts on this
second line. The German heavy guns bombarded the town, forts, and
trenches from midnight on October 7-8, the inability of the Belgians
to hold the forts became evident during the 8th, and a retirement of
the Division was decided on at 5:30 P.M., chivalrously facilitated
by the Belgian commander, and carried out that evening under very
difficult conditions. A large German force was in the rear, the roads
were blocked by refugees, vehicles, and cattle, and for these and other
reasons, partly fatigue, many of the First Naval Brigade were taken
prisoners or crossed the border into Holland, where they were interned.
The remainder entrained after an all-night march at St. Gillies-Waes,
and completed their retreat; but the rearguard, a battalion of the
Marine Brigade, entraining later with many refugees, found its journey
interrupted by the enemy at Morbeke, and fought its way through with
great difficulty, losing half its numbers; it then marched ten miles
more to Selzaate and entrained there. The casualties altogether
exceeded 2,500.
The full account was given in a report from Major-General Paris,
published Dec, 4, and a covering despatch from Sir John French stated
that General Paris had handled the force with great skill and boldness;
its action had considerably delayed the enemy and enabled the Belgian
Army to be withdrawn and regain its value as a fighting force, and
had also facilitated the destruction of war material which would have
been of great value to the enemy; moreover, the moral effect of this
"necessarily desperate attempt" to succour the Belgian Army had greatly
conduced to their efficiency as a fighting force.
This latter despatch was virtually a reply to Press strictures on
a step regarded as essentially the enterprise of the First Lord of
the Admiralty, who had, in fact, visited the city during the British
occupation; and the _Morning Post_ of October 13 described it as
"a costly blunder, for which Mr. Winston Churchill was primarily
responsible"; the relief had come too late, and kept the Belgian Army
there too long. In other quarters, however, it was pointed out that the
despatch of the force must have been the act of the whole Cabinet, and
that it had a moral value as a demonstration of sympathy with Belgium.
Meanwhile, the Germans occupied Bruges and Thielt, bombarded Arras, and
were evidently making a desperate effort to reach the coast at Dunkirk
and Calais, hoping to interfere at least with British shipping in the
Channel.
The capture of Antwerp, too, seemed to increase their means of
interference. The defenders had destroyed the stores of petrol, and
sunk or disabled the steamers in the port; and to have used it as a
naval base even for submarines would have involved the violation of
the neutrality of Holland. But it increased the danger of a Zeppelin
raid on London; the Mayor of Gravesend issued a warning against hostile
aircraft; and it opened the way for a German advance to the more
suitable bases, at Zeebrugge and Ostend, for a naval or aerial attack.
The fall was accompanied by a fresh influx into England of Belgian
refugees; in four days (Oct. 7-10) some 10,000 landed in Folkestone
from Ostend; on Sunday, October 11, 4,250 landed there from Ostend
and 900 from Flushing; by October 17 the total number in England was
100,000. Crowds reached other ports, notably Lowestoft, in sailing
craft, amid great suffering. Belief was promptly given by committees
at London and Folkestone, and shelter and hospitality was offered
throughout Great Britain; while numbers of Belgian wounded were also
provided for in improvised hospitals, private houses being frequently
lent and fitted up by their owners with other voluntary aid. Many
German spies were said to be among the refugees; and for this reason
they were withdrawn from Dover and Grimsby.
The fate of Belgium was a powerful factor in the issue of a Labour
manifesto (Oct. 15), signed by twenty-five Labour members of Parliament
and thirty-five leading trade union officials, declaring that in view
of Germany's conduct there must be no peace till she was beaten, and
that during the war combatants and non-combatants must be supported to
the utmost, though after the war the party favoured arbitration. With
the rarest exceptions, the whole British people was equally convinced
that the war must be fought out; and there was no dismay at the news
of the Maritz rebellion or the loss of the _Hawke_, against which
indeed might be set the arrival of the first Canadian contingent and
the sinking of German destroyers off the Dutch coast (Chron., Oct.
17). Such disquiet as there was showed itself in a revival of the fear
of espionage, which was met by the internment of a number of Germans
and Austrians (Oct. 21, 22), and in the destruction of German shops
in South London (Oct. 17); and complaint was also made of an order
(shortly afterwards rescinded) that enemy passengers were not to be
taken out of neutral ships and of the permission of transactions with
branches of German and Austrian firms outside Germany and Austria.
Recruiting, however, was proceeding rapidly; within the British Isles
there were already 1,200,000 men "in organised form," and 100,000
troops were available as "a first instalment" from the outer Empire.
Meanwhile a daring attempt, not fully revealed till six weeks later,
had been made by Sir John French to outflank the German forces in
Northern France. Details must be sought in his lengthy despatch
(published Nov. 30); but the general idea was to effect a turning
movement north of Lille, and then, with the aid of the cavalry under
Sir Henry Rawlinson, who had been covering the Belgian retreat from
Antwerp, to advance on Bruges and Ghent. The position on the Aisne
(p. 214) permitted the transfer from that region of the British
troops; and this delicate operation was carried out (Oct. 3-19) with
the full concurrence of General Joffre and the cordial co-operation
of the French General Staff. Broadly, the plan arranged with General
Foch, in charge of the French operations north of Noyon, was that
the Second, Third, and First British Army Corps should successively
take up positions on the French right, beginning at a point on the
Lille-Bethune road, on a line running thence through Armentières
towards, and beyond, Ypres, the British right being directed on Lille,
while Sir Henry Rawlinson's cavalry was to co-operate, and the First
Corps was to make for Bruges. The great battle of Ypres-Armentières,
the result of this attempt, began October 11, and was unfinished at
the end of the year. Its first stage closed about October 31. The
Second Corps, under Sir H. Smith-Dorrien, reached the line Aire-Bethune
on October 11; its cavalry that day came in contact with the enemy,
and the corps moved eastward to the line Laventie-Lorges, advancing
with difficulty over ground cut up by mines and factory buildings,
and endeavoured to wheel to the right to take the Germans in flank
at the rear of their position at La Bassée, which defied capture
throughout. From the 13th to the 17th this corps fought its way on,
the Dorset Regiment and the Artillery being specially commended, and
at dark on the 17th the Lincolns and Royal Fusiliers took Herlies
(three or four miles beyond the line) at the point of the bayonet.
From the 19th to the 31st October they defended themselves against
vigorous counter-attacks from much more numerous German forces, with
the help, from the 24th, of Indian troops, but were forced back on
to a line crossing their old one, and terminating slightly west of
La Bassée. Meanwhile the Third Corps, under General Pulteney, coming
through St. Omer and Hazebrouck, had moved forward towards the line
Armentières-Wytschaete, and, fighting their way slowly forward amid
rain and fog, occupied Bailleul (some six miles behind this line),
secured the line of the River Lys from Armentières south-west to
Sailly, and, till the 19th, attempted vainly to force the passage of
the river, in order to be able to drive the enemy eastwards to Lille.
Sir H. Rawlinson's force had already reached a line six miles east of
Ypres, running from Zandvoorde to Zonnenboke, and an effort was made
(Oct. 18) to capture Ménin (some twelve miles north of Lille), but this
proved impracticable. The First Corps, under Sir Douglas Haig, had now
arrived at a position between St. Omer and Hazebrouck; but it had to
be sent to the north of Ypres to meet a German outflanking movement
towards the Channel, which the exhausted Belgian Army could not have
stopped without assistance. Sir Douglas Haig was therefore instructed
(Oct. 19) to advance through Ypres north-eastwards to Thorout, on the
Ypres-Bruges railway, with Bruges and Ghent as its eventual objective,
but with the option, after passing Ypres, of attacking either the
Germans on the north or those advancing from the east, French cavalry
co-operating on his left and General Byng's Third Cavalry Division
on his right. The British Army, Sir John French remarked, had a task
arduous beyond precedent. "That success has been attained, and all the
enemy's desperate attempts to break through our line frustrated, is due
entirely to the marvellous fighting power and the indomitable courage
and tenacity of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men." Never
in all their splendid history had they answered so magnificently the
desperate calls which of necessity were made on them.
The First Corps, however, was compelled to turn eastwards from
Ypres, and was unable to advance beyond the line Zonnenbeke-St.
Julien-Langemarck-Bixschoete, and had to remain on the defensive
pending a French movement on its north (Oct. 21). A series of severe
engagements took place in this neighbourhood on October 22-31, special
mention being made of a recapture of trenches (Oct. 23) by the Queens,
Northamptons, and King's Royal Rifles, and of the fighting round
Gheluvelt (some six miles east-south-east of Ypres) against vastly
superior numbers (Oct. 29-31), the village being retaken, on the 31st
by a bayonet charge of the 2nd Worcesters, during the most critical
portion of the whole great battle. It was discovered that three German
Army Corps had been charged with the task of breaking the line near
Ypres, and that the Emperor regarded the issue of the attack as vital
to German success in the war. The Fourth Corps, which had been formed
partly out of the troops from Antwerp and had been co-operating with
the First, was broken up at the end of October and incorporated in
the latter, the Commander proceeding to England to supervise the
mobilisation of his 8th division; and the British Army had meanwhile
been considerably reinforced, while French troops had been supporting
it.
Meanwhile the Third Corps, in the Centre, had been severely pressed,
holding as it did an extended front crossing the Lys, with several weak
points, while adequate reserves could not be provided. High praise
was given to the skill of its commander and the courage, tenacity,
endurance and unparalleled cheerfulness of the men; and special mention
was made of the frequent repulse of attacks (Oct. 22-24), a German
attack on Le Gheir (29th) and its recapture by the Middlesex Regiment,
with the aid of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders; of trenches
temporarily lost; of a counter-attack by the Somerset Light Infantry,
and of much fighting by the Cavalry Corps. In the Third Corps the East
Lancashire, Hampshire, and Somersetshire Light Infantry Regiments were
specially commended, and the Indian troops were said to have displayed
much initiative and resource.
It transpired on December 16 that Sir Henry Rawlinson's troops, the
Seventh Infantry and Third Cavalry Divisions, which were landed in
Belgium about October 6, to support the British forces at Antwerp, had
been compelled to retreat, fighting almost continuously, by Thielt
and Roulers to Ypres, and there to keep several German Corps at bay
till Sir John French's Army had come up from the Aisne. When they were
released, the infantry had only 44 officers left out of 400, and only
2,336 men out of 12,000.
Episodes in Sir John French's movement were revealed soon after it,
_inter alia_ the entry of the Indian troops into battle, the gallantry
of the London Scottish (Territorials), of the Loyal North Lancashires,
and other regiments. But attention at home was directed mainly to the
struggle of the Belgians on the Yser, assisted by a British squadron,
including the river monitors _Severn_, _Mersey_, and _Humber_, taken
over at the beginning of the war from Brazil; their light draught and
howitzer batteries enabled them to render effective aid. They left
Dover on October 17, began to bombard the German forces at daybreak on
the 19th, and landed detachments with machine guns; and the bombardment
continued, with slight intermissions, for over a fortnight, H.M.S.
_Attentive_, _Wildfire_, _Brilliant_, _Rinaldo_, the destroyer
_Falcon_, the battleship _Venerable_, and other vessels (some almost
obsolete), taking part, and inflicting heavy losses on the German
troops. The Germans strove to protect themselves by removing the
Wielingen and Wandelaar lightships, and by placing mines along the
coast.
German methods of warfare had meanwhile been illustrated by the attempt
to sink the French steamer _Amiral Ganteaume_, crowded with refugees
from Calais, in the English Channel (Oct. 26), and indirectly by the
terrible wreck of the British hospital ship _Rohilla_ off Whitby (Oct.
30), caused mainly by her keeping close inshore to avoid mines in
an easterly gale, though she was believed to have struck one before
stranding. On November 2 the Admiralty issued a warning that the
Germans, through the agency of some merchant vessel under a neutral
flag, had scattered mines indiscriminately on the route between
America and Liverpool _via_ the north of Ireland; the White Star liner
_Olympic_ had escaped them only by pure good luck; and, in view of the
German practice, the whole of the North Sea must now be declared a
military area; after November 5 any ship passing a line drawn from the
north point of the Hebrides through the Faroes to Iceland must do so
at its peril. Within the North Sea arrangements were made to prescribe
safe routes for vessels trading with neutral countries, but even a
slight deviation would be dangerous.
It was afterwards stated that the _Olympic's_ escape was caused by
her response to a call on October 27 from one of the newest British
battleships, which had struck a mine off Ireland while on patrol duty,
and whose crew she had been able to save, though not the ship. The
_Olympic_ was detained for some days in Lough Swilly, no one being
allowed to land, and was then taken to Belfast. Particulars reached
the American papers by mail and were published there with photographs
and in neutral papers also, and rumours of the disaster had circulated
in England for some time. But the Admiralty gave the story no official
confirmation, and the name of the ship in question remained in the Navy
List.
Apart from this, however, the naval war was sensibly drawing nearer
to Great Britain. On October 27 the Admiralty closed all but one of
the approaches to the Thames, and ordered vessels in a specified area
of the estuary to anchor during the night and show no lights; H.M.S.
_Hermes_ was torpedoed in the Downs, only two miles off Deal, on
October 31; and on the morning of November 3 a German squadron fired on
H.M.S. _Halcyon_ off Yarmouth, wounding one man, but were driven off
by the approach of other British ships, and pursued by light cruisers,
which failed to engage them. In retiring the Germans threw out mines
promiscuously and the British submarine D 5 and two steam drifters were
sunk. Rumour connected this advance with a German attempt at a raid.
But Germany had prepared also to attack in other quarters. The Porte
entered the war on October 30, doubtless under German influence, by
bombarding various Russian towns on the Black Sea; and on November
1 the Foreign Office issued a statement of the British position. At
the beginning of the war Great Britain had assured the Porte that,
if Turkey remained neutral, her independence and integrity would be
respected during the war and in the terms of peace; ever since, the
British Government had shown great patience and forbearance; but German
officers had been sent in considerable numbers to Constantinople,
the _Goeben_ and _Breslau_ had entered the Dardanelles, the Turks
had attacked undefended towns, and had prepared to invade Egypt and
excite a Holy War in Syria, and probably in India: and telegraphic
communication had been interrupted without notice on October 30
with the British Embassy at Constantinople. The British Government,
therefore, must take such action as was necessary to protect British
interests, British territory, and Egypt. This statement was followed
by the news that a British and French squadron had bombarded the
Dardanelles, and that H.M.S. _Minerva_ had driven a Turkish force out
of Akabah, thus checking a possible invasion of Egypt by sea, by a
British declaration of war with Turkey, and by the annexation of Cyprus
by Order in Council (Nov. 5)--a step which got rid of the anomalous
tenure devised in 1878, which had been one of the objections most
strongly felt by British Liberals to Lord Beaconsfield's acquisition of
the island.
At home, meanwhile, the campaign against alien enemies had culminated
in an attack in the _Globe_ on Prince Louis of Battenberg, the First
Sea Lord, who had been popularly (but absurdly) reported for some time
to be confined in the Tower on a charge of treason. On October 30 a
letter from him was published tendering his resignation on the ground
that his birth and parentage in some respects impaired his usefulness;
and Mr. Churchill, in accepting his resignation, cordially testified to
his great services, notably to his having taken the first step securing
the concentration of the Fleet at the outbreak of the war. The attack,
it need scarcely be said, was baseless; the Battenberg Princes had
every reason to detest the Prussian Court, and Prince Louis had been an
Englishman from boyhood, and had strenuously exerted himself to gain
naval knowledge and apply it for the advancement of the British Navy.
But he was regarded in some quarters as too compliant to the First
Lord's demands, and he had not been forgiven for his disavowal of his
alleged speech (p. 35). Lord Fisher of Kilverstone, however, proved an
entirely satisfactory successor.
The new First Sea Lord was soon confronted with the task of avenging
a grave British naval defeat. On November 6 it was announced that
on Sunday, November 1, five German warships, the _Scharnhorst_,
_Gneisenau_, _Leipzig_, _Dresden_, and _Nürnberg_, had concentrated
off Santa Maria Island, near Coronel, Chile, and engaged a British
squadron under Rear-Admiral Cradock, consisting of the cruisers _Good
Hope_ and _Monmouth_, the light cruiser _Glasgow_, and the armed
merchant cruiser _Otranto_, and that the _Good Hope_ and _Monmouth_ had
been sunk and the _Glasgow_ seriously damaged. The details remained
obscure for some time, even to the Admiralty; but it was eventually
learnt that the British ships had been met near sunset by the German
squadron, that the Admiral had determined to engage notwithstanding his
inferiority in speed and gun-power, and had warned off the battleship
_Canopus_, which was coming up from the Straits of Magellan, as her
speed was insufficient to cope with the Germans, and had ordered the
_Otranto_ to keep out of danger; that the Germans forced the British
ships into a position where the setting sun interfered with their aim,
that the British guns were outranged and that the _Monmouth_ was sunk,
and the _Good Hope_ blown up while making for the shore, the _Glasgow_
escaping. The loss of men was heavy; so was the blow to British
prestige.
It was tolerably clear, moreover, that the German ships, coming as they
did from the Chinese coast, could not have obtained coal or provisions
without some violation of neutrality; and it was found that they had
been supplied by Kosmos liners from Chilean ports, by an American
collier at Juan Fernandez, and by other ships at the Galapagos Islands,
belonging to Ecuador. The Chilean Government had not been involved;
but Ecuador and Colombia were suspected of breaches of neutrality. And
in other quarters there were new dangers. The collapse of Maritz's
rebellion at the Cape had been followed by a more serious rising led
by Generals de Wet and Beyers; and the British forces had suffered a
serious reverse on November 2 in German East Africa.
It was amid these impressions that the Lord Mayor's banquet was held
at the Guildhall (Nov. 10). The first toast after the loyal toasts
was that of "Our Allies," proposed by Mr. Balfour. He described the
capture of Tsingtau as a most dramatic answer to one of the most
insulting messages ever sent from one Sovereign to another [in 1897]
and as a good omen for those still fighting the arch-enemy in Europe.
Russia had shown not only dogged and boundless courage, but unexpected
powers of organisation; the war had brought out the military genius not
only of a nation, but of a man (the Grand Duke Nicholas). As for the
gallant French, never would the time grow dim in which they and the
British fought side by side against the common foe of civilisation.
Serbia, to preserve the peace of the world, had been prepared to give
up everything short of her national existence, but she had gallantly
defended it, and there was no chance now that Austria would wrest it
from her. The case of Belgium was even more tragic. Cynicism could
go no farther than the Germans had carried it, and the memory of the
accumulated infamy of their transaction would be remembered after the
crime, great as it was, had been adequately expiated. The Allies were
fighting for civilisation and the cause of small States, and whether
the war was short or long, they would triumph. They had behind them all
the finest moral influences of the civilised world.
M. Cambon, the French Ambassador, in reply, said that Europe had
suffered invasions of barbarians in the past, but had never yet seen
barbarism raised to dogma and reinforced by science. But its professors
had not foreseen that they would come into conflict with the conscience
of the civilised world.
The First Lord of the Admiralty, responding to the toast of "The
Imperial Forces of the Crown," said that it was thanks to the Navy
that they were there. In a recent conversation with Sir John Jellicoe
and his chief Admiral they had remarked that Cornwallis was three
years off Brest and Nelson more than two off Toulon; they themselves
were only just beginning, and their turn would come. The multiplied
duties of the Navy arising from the curious and novel conditions of
naval warfare forced them to expose a target to the enemy incomparably
larger than any target exposed to our own daring and vigilant sailors.
The Navy was making good the motto "Business as usual"; the economic
stringency resulting from a blockade required time to reach its full
effectiveness; but in the sixth, ninth, or twelfth month they would see
results gradually and silently achieved which would spell the doom of
Germany. The Navy, too, gave Britain and the British Empire the time
to realise their vast military power. At the end of a hundred days of
war the Navy was actually and relatively stronger than when war was
declared, particularly in the branches most influential in the struggle.
Earl Kitchener, who also responded, said that every officer returning
from the front said that the men were doing splendidly. He eulogised
the Regular, Territorial, and Indian troops, and those of each Ally,
remarking that General Joffre was not only a great soldier, but a
great man. The British Empire was fighting for its existence; only
if that fact were realised could there come the great national and
moral impulse without which Governments and armies could do little.
He had no complaint to make of the response to his appeal for men,
and the progress in military training of those already enlisted was
remarkable; but he would want more men, and, still more, till the enemy
was crushed. He alluded, briefly, to the inevitable discomforts of
the recruits, as having been already greatly diminished, and remarked
that the German use of elaborate destructive machinery was facilitated
by their having fixed the date of war beforehand. He referred briefly
to the gallant conduct of the Army in the trenches, to the Dominion
contingents, and to the 1,250,000 soldiers in training in Great Britain
eagerly waiting for the call. Every man would, in doing his duty,
sustain the credit of the British Army, which had never stood higher.
The Prime Minister, in responding to the toast of His Majesty's
Ministers, referred to the annexation of Bosnia and the Turkish
revolution, the first as the earliest cause of the war, the second
as raising vain hopes of the renascence of Turkey. Not the Turkish
people, but the Ottoman Government, had sent Turkey to her doom. Great
Britain had no quarrel with the Moslem subjects of the Sultan; millions
of Mohammedans were among the most loyal subjects of the King; she
was prepared, if necessary, to defend their Holy Places against all
invaders. The Turkish Empire had committed suicide. Reviewing the
financial measures taken by the Government, Mr. Asquith made special
mention of the services of the Lord Chief Justice (Lord Reading),
and of Mr. Walter Cunliffe, Governor of the Bank of England, on whom
a Peerage was conferred. He warned his hearers that, though little
was seen of the war save darkened streets and a preponderance of
khaki-clad men, it would be a long-drawn out struggle, but there was
nothing in the warfare of the past 100 days to damp British hopes or
impair British resolve. The enemy had tried in turn three separate
objectives--Paris, Warsaw, Calais; from each in turn they had retired
balked and frustrated; but that was not enough. We should not sheathe
the sword until Belgium recovered all and more than all that she had
sacrificed, until France was adequately secured against the menace of
aggression, until the rights of the smaller nationalities were placed
on an unassailable foundation, until the military dominion of Prussia
was fully and finally destroyed. It was a great task, worthy of a great
nation. The Primate and the Lord Chief Justice were among the other
speakers.
On the same evening the Chancellor of the Exchequer addressed a great
Nonconformist recruiting meeting at the City Temple. The principle that
drew him to resist his own country in the Boer War, he said--defence of
small nationalities--had brought him there. One of the greatest French
generals, describing his own experience, had said to him that "the man
responsible for this war had the soul of a devil." Great Britain was
not responsible. We were organised for defence--against all the Powers
of the world. We had raised the greatest Volunteer Army on record, and
in a few months we should double it. For an aggressive war we could not
have raised a tenth of it. At the outbreak of war we were on better
terms with Germany than we had been for fifteen years. The vulture
had been hanging over Belgium, but it pounced, not on a rabbit, but
on a hedgehog, and had been bleeding and sore ever since. We now knew
that the counsellors of Germany had planned and organised the murder
of peaceful neighbours, and even fixed the date to suit themselves.
Peace at any price was not a Christian principle. The surest way of
establishing peace on earth was to make the way of the peacebreaker too
hard for rulers to tread. After denouncing German action in Belgium
and coupling the Turks of the East with their fitting comrades the
Turks of the West, he referred to the cost of the war--which would not
be grudged--and condemned those who approved of the war and left the
necessary sacrifices to others. Could Britain, fighting one of the most
chivalrous wars the world had ever seen, not rely on her children to
rally to her honour?
The encouragement given by these speeches had already been begun by the
news that the _Königsberg_ had been shut up in East Africa by H.M.S.
_Chatham_ and the _Emden_ destroyed by H.M.A.S. _Sydney_ at the Cocos
or Keeling Islands (Chron., Nov. 10); and the sinking of H.M.S. _Niger_
by a submarine next day in the Downs, two miles off Deal, served
merely as a salutary reminder that the war was near at hand. And the
unity of the nation was further emphasised during the short session of
Parliament which now began.
Parliament was opened by the King in person on November 11, with
much the usual ceremony, save that the State coach with the famous
cream-coloured horses was replaced by a glass coach with black horses.
Many of the King's servants trained in Court ceremonial had gone to the
front; the dresses of the Queen and most of the Peeresses in the House
of Lords were black; and several members of the Commons wore khaki.
(The members serving in the Navy, Army, and Auxiliary Forces numbered
126.) The King read his speech, of which only portions can be here
given. The salient passage referring to the entry of Turkey into the
war was as follows:--
MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,--In conjunction with My Allies, and
in spite of repeated and continuous provocations, I strove to
preserve, in regard to Turkey, a friendly neutrality. Bad counsels,
and alien influences, have driven her into a policy of wanton and
defiant aggression, and a state of war now exists between us. My
Mussulman subjects know well that a rupture with Turkey has been
forced upon Me against My will, and I recognise with appreciation
and gratitude the proofs which they have hastened to give of their
loyal devotion and support.
My Navy and Army continue, throughout the area of conflict, to
maintain in full measure their glorious traditions. We watch and
follow their steadfastness and valour with thankfulness and pride,
and there is, throughout My Empire, a fixed determination to
secure, at whatever sacrifice, the triumph of our arms, and the
vindication of our cause.
The speech concluded as follows:--
GENTLEMEN,--The only measures which will be submitted to you,
at this stage of the Session, are such as seem necessary to My
advisers for the attainment of the great purpose upon which the
efforts of the Empire are set.
I confidently commend them to your patriotism and loyalty, and I
pray that the Almighty will give His blessings to your counsels.
The debates in both Houses, which cannot here be fully summarised,
exhibited the unity of all parties regarding the essentials of the
war, while there was some Opposition criticism of certain of its
incidents. In the Upper House the Address was moved by Lord Methuen,
who emphasised the pride of the nation in its Army, and seconded by
Viscount Bryce, who referred to the "streams of letters" from the
United States evincing the width and depth of American sympathy, and
declared that a conflict of principles like the war could not end till
one or other principle triumphed. Earl Curzon, in the absence through
illness of the Marquess of Lansdowne, took his place as Opposition
leader, reviewing the situation and criticising the scale of allowances
and pensions to dependants of soldiers, and the official reticence
as to the deeds of the troops in the field. The Marquess of Crewe,
replying, promised consideration of these points; the Earl of Selborne
asked about the Antwerp expedition and the defeat off Chile, criticised
the First Lord's practice of sending messages to foreign Powers and the
Fleets in his own name instead of that of the Board of Admiralty, and
declared the attack on Prince Louis of Battenberg to be "a national
humiliation." The Earl of Crawford, supported subsequently by Lord
Leith of Fyvie, made important allegations of official laxity in
dealing with alien enemies in Fifeshire, stating that petrol had been
exported and dynamite imported illegally, and that a neutral steamer
had been found with sawdust in some of her coal-bunkers, indicating
that she had been laying mines.[4] The Lord Chancellor said that what
was done at Antwerp had to be done quickly, and was done by the First
Lord after consulting the War Secretary; the Government took the
responsibility, and thought the intervention had been useful. The First
Lord of the Admiralty had not, he thought, sent communications in his
own name to an inordinate extent, but he was anxious to conform to the
best practice on the subject. The Government were grateful for the
support given by the Opposition.
In the Commons the Address was moved by Sir R. Price (L., _Norfolk,
E._) and seconded by Mr. Middlebrook (L., _Leeds, S._).
Mr. Bonar Law, after an eloquent reference to the bereavements
sustained by members, and a hopeful review of the situation, said that
the Opposition would press no amendment to a division, but would raise
certain questions. He mentioned the Antwerp expedition and the naval
disaster off Chile, the treatment of alien enemies, in which he hoped
that the Government was not being influenced by clamouring newspapers,
the secrecy as to the doings of the armies, and two special hindrances
to recruiting--the fact that the dependants of soldiers did not get
what they were promised, and the uncertainty as to the intentions of
the Government regarding their future after the war. He suggested the
reference of the subject to a small Committee.
The Prime Minister, after expressing confidence in the success of the
Allies, declared that the responsibility for the Antwerp expedition
rested with the whole Government, and that the expedition was a
material and useful factor in the campaign. The internment of alien
enemies was preliminary to a sifting process. A censorship was
inevitable in modern warfare, and news could only be published after
consultation with our Allies. He defended the scale of allowances to
childless widows (7_s._ 6_d._ as a weekly minimum) on the ground that
a larger grant might depress the labour market. Moreover, the burden
imposed by the existing scheme on the country for ten years after
the war would be from 10,000,000_l._ to 15,000,000_l._ annually. He
welcomed Mr. Bonar Law's proposal of a Committee, and mentioned that
of the 1,186,000 men voted during the year for the Regular Army less
than 100,000 were still lacking. He fully acknowledged the loyal
co-operation of the Opposition and the Labour party.
Next day Mr. Henderson (Lab.), after promising the full support of
organised Labour in maintaining the "splendid unity" of the nation,
complained of the shocking lack of provision for recruits in the camps,
the grievances of soldiers, and the ill-judged supervision exercised
over their wives. Mr. Long (U.) dealt with the delays of pay and
allowances, and the Financial Secretary of the War Office explained
the inevitable difficulties set up by the novel conditions and the
unprecedented strain on the War Office. Mr. Joynson-Hicks (U.) moved
an amendment raising the question of danger from spies. The Home
Secretary, after declaring that he ignored the unprecedentedly numerous
Press attacks on himself personally, said that the responsibility for
internment rested on the military authorities, and the Home Office
acted under their direction. At first those interned were selected
as being personally suspected, later as being out of employment
and therefore possibly dangerous; in October the military question
changed in aspect, and more were arrested at the wish of the military
authorities, who again slackened their demand. He referred to an
allegation unsupported by evidence, that the three cruisers (Chron.,
Sept. 22) had been sunk through espionage, and defended the Home Office
against the charge of inaction. Mr. Bonar Law said that the better man
a German was, the more likely he was to take risks for his country
when it was at war; Lody (Chron., Nov. 5) was as much a patriot as
any soldier killed in action. The Opposition wanted to see that the
rounding up of spies was properly done. The enemy aliens most likely to
injure England were the best educated and the best off. The Secretary
for Scotland dealt with the measures taken in that country, but Sir H.
Dalziel (L., _Kirkcaldy Burghs_) declared that petrol had been supplied
from a Scottish port to German submarines through a Danish ship, and
that some of the most dangerous spies were not Germans.
Sir W. Bull (U., _Fulham_) then moved an amendment complaining of the
restrictions placed by the Press Bureau on the publication of war
news. The Solicitor-General's reply was regarded on both sides as
disquieting. The Bureau, he said, should not stop criticism unless it
would destroy confidence in the Government or cause alarm by inducing
a belief that the situation was very grave. He mentioned incidentally
that the Censors had much news of disasters to British capital ships,
all of it false, and that certain articles on foreign policy had
impaired British relations with neutral States. His thought was only of
British soldiers and sailors. The Press Bureau alone stood between the
Press and the untempered severities of martial law.
A revised scheme had been issued earlier in the week of pensions for
soldiers and sailors and their dependants. A widow with four children
would receive 20_s._, with three 17_s._ 6_d._, with two 15_s._, with
one, 12_s._ 6_d._, with none, 7_s._ 6_d._ These might be increased on
the recommendation of the Old Age Pensions Committee. The separation
allowance would be continued for six months after widowhood. The
minimum disablement allowances would be 14_s._ for unmarried men,
16_s._ 6_d._ for married men without children, rising to a magnitude of
23_s._ The estimated burden on the country would range, according to
the duration of the war and the percentage of deaths and disablements,
from 99,000,000_l._ to 202,000,000_l._
At the opening of the following week--which was saddened by the
unexpected news of the death of Earl Roberts--the Prime Minister
moved a Vote of Credit for 225,000,000_l._, and an addition to the
Regular Army of 1,000,000 men. He first explained--necessarily without
details--that of the 100,000,000_l._ previously voted the largest
portion had been spent on the operations of the war; other outlays were
on loans to the Allies, a very large sum to secure the food supplies,
especially sugar, wheat, and other necessaries, a considerable sum
to obtain control of the railways, and expenditure on succour for
refugees and destitute aliens. The bulk of the money now asked for
would be spent on the Army and Navy; but loans not for the use of
Great Britain would amount to 44,000,000_l._ This, however, would
include a comparatively small sum possibly needed for the relief of
local distress at home. The Belgian Government had already received
10,000,000_l._, the Servian Government 800,000_l._ The Government
would relieve the Dominions of the responsibility of raising loans by
advancing them 30,250,000_l._ The war had cost between 900,000_l._
and 1,000,000_l._ a day; the provision asked would last up to March
31, leaving a reasonable margin. The Estimates had been carefully
considered and repeatedly revised, and represented the minimum which
should be asked for in the greatest emergency in British history.
Mr. Long (U.) expressed satisfaction with the Prime Minister's
statement, suggested improvement of the pay and allowances of officers,
and urged that recruiting should be stimulated by war correspondence
and that greater power should be given to commanders to confer
decorations. Sir H. Dalziel (L.) gave surprising and suggestive figures
of the increased exports of coal, cocoa, tea, and other articles to
the neutral countries near to Germany; and, among other speakers, Mr.
Healy (I.N.) vigorously condemned the Press censorship. There was some
divergence of opinion as to the degree of drinking among the troops.
The Prime Minister replied at some length to the points raised. As to
war correspondence, the other Allies must have the decisive voice. The
increased exports of coal to Scandinavia were caused by the cessation
of German supplies; as to tea, there were ways by which the export to
Germany might be stopped. Of the new Army not more than 15 per cent.
had suffered from disease of any kind, and its average standard of
conduct was worthy of the country and of the cause. The Regular Army
now numbered 1,100,000; since the beginning of August 700,000 recruits
had joined, besides at least 200,000 Territorials. He gave very high
praise to the latter Force. But they wanted another million. The votes
were agreed to, and the sitting closed with an energetic repudiation by
Mr. Edgar Jones (L., _Merthyr Tydfil_) and the Government of attacks
recently made by Mr. Keir Hardie (Lab., _Merthyr Tydfil_) on the Army.
Next day (Nov. 17) the proceedings in both Houses opened with
tributes to the memory of Earl Roberts. In the House of Lords Earl
Kitchener, Earl Curzon of Kedleston, and the Marquess of Crewe bore
eloquent testimony to the late Field-Marshal's military achievements,
his devotion to his country, his comradeship with his men, and his
character as a Christian. In the Commons, the Prime Minister gave
notice of an Address to the Crown, asking that a monument might
be erected at the cost of the State, and spoke of Earl Roberts's
consummate strategy, rare powers of leadership, a unique faculty of
attracting the devotion of his men, and his mastery of the art of war,
and of his eagerness, expressed in their last conversation, to be of
use in any capacity in "this latest and greatest of our wars." Mr.
Bonar Law found a parallel to his character in Thackeray's Colonel
Newcome; Mr. John Redmond (N., _Waterford_) reminded the House that
Earl Roberts was an honorary freeman of that borough, and mentioned
that he had desired to speak at Dublin along with the Prime Minister
and himself (p. 215); and Sir Ivor Herbert (L.) and Colonel Yate (U.)
added their tributes as former officers of Earl Roberts's staff.
Earl Roberts's funeral took place on November 19 with simple but
impressive ceremony. The remains, which had been brought back to his
house at Ascot, were conveyed thence by special train to Charing
Cross, whence they were borne on a gun carriage by the Embankment and
Ludgate Hill to St. Paul's Cathedral, escorted by troops representing
the Territorials, the Guards, Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery, a
naval detachment, and a mountain battery; and Earl Kitchener, Sir
Evelyn Wood, Lord Methuen, and Lord Charles Beresford, were among the
pall-bearers, who attended the remains from the Embankment to the
Cathedral. At the door the Cathedral choir and clergy met and preceded
the coffin, which was followed by the pall-bearers, the Primate,
and the King. Many hundreds of the public visited the grave in the
afternoon. A memorial monument was to be erected at the public cost.
To return to Parliament: on November 17 the War Budget was introduced
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. After giving figures (to be found
in the appended table) showing that he had to provide for a deficit by
March 31 of 339,571,000_l._, he argued that a substantial part of this
must be raised by taxation, justifying this course by the precedents
set by Pitt in the French wars and Gladstone in the Crimean War. This
war would cost at least 450,000,000_l._ in the first full year; not
to tax heavily for it would be a serious departure from honoured and
unbroken national tradition. If Great Britain now rose to the heroic
level of 1798, she would be raising a revenue of from 450,000,000_l._
to 700,000,000_l._, and no borrowing would be needed. It was wisest
to assume that the war would be long; it would be folly to borrow to
meet interest on loans and loss of revenue; four-fifths of the money
raised would be spent in Great Britain, and during the war and after
reconstruction there would be practically no competition in neutral
markets, except from America. For four or five years, therefore,
British industries would be artificially stimulated; but afterwards
our customers' purchasing power would be crippled and much capital
would have been exhausted. During the period of inflation, therefore,
as much as possible should be raised by taxation. War, too, was a time
of sacrifice and self-denial, and readiness to bear taxation would
strengthen British credit. No taxes would be levied interfering with
productive industries, but all classes would be reached. The income
tax would be doubled, but in the current year would be collected on
only one-third of the income, so that it would be 1_s._ 8_d._ from
December 1 on unearned and 1_s._ on earned income. Arrangements would
be made to meet serious cases of loss of income through the war. As
to the class that did not pay income tax, Ministers had regretfully
abandoned the idea of a tax on wages, owing to the difficulties of
dealing with varying rates, casual labour, and half-timers, and
of reaching small shopkeepers; and they had to resort to indirect
taxation. Beer was taxed very lightly as compared with other alcoholic
drinks. The half-pint was the commonest measure of consumption, and
an additional duty of 17_s._ 3_d._ per barrel would enable an extra
halfpenny per half-pint to be charged to the consumer, leaving a
fair margin for the brewer and publican; the lighter the beer, the
larger the margin. The licence duty would be reduced proportionately
to the curtailment of hours (p. 195), except near camping centres,
and the brewer would be given a month's credit for payment of duty.
The estimated increase of revenue from the source in 1914-15 would be
2,050,000_l._ and in 1915-16 17,600,000_l._ Increased duties on spirits
would be unproductive, on wine undesirable, because much of it came
from our Allies or the Dominions, and the consumption was diminishing.
The "elusive teetotaller" could not be reached, as people supposed, by
taxing mineral waters, three-fourths of which were drunk with alcohol;
tea must be taxed; a graduated tax was impossible, so the tax would be
increased by 3_d._ all round, to the figure of the Boer War. Finally,
2,750,000_l._ would be raised, as he showed at length, by partially
suspending the Sinking Fund. This would still leave a deficit of
321,321,000_l._ Of this 91,000,000_l._ had already been borrowed by
Treasury Bills. As he showed at length, it was eminently desirable to
borrow enough to carry on beyond the current financial year, and the
sum proposed would render a further appeal unnecessary up to July,
1915. After extensive consultation, it had been decided to issue a loan
at 3-1/2 per cent., a rate brought up to 4 per cent. by issue below par
and the guarantee of early redemption. It would be a 3-1/2 per cent.
security issued at 95, to be redeemed by the Government at par on March
1, 1928, or, subject to three months' notice, at any time between March
1, 1925, and March 1, 1928, and the amount would be 350,000,000_l._,
of which 100,000,000_l._ had already been offered firm. It would not
be issued in sums of less than 100_l._, as that course would deplete
the savings banks. After explaining the arrangements, Mr. Lloyd George
stated that the Bank of England would be prepared, till March 1, 1918,
to make advances against deposits of the loan taken at the issue price
without margin at 1 per cent. below the ordinary Bank rate. It was of
immense importance that the money should be subscribed, but it would be
an excellent investment, because Great Britain's credit was still the
best, and it would be a still better investment after the war. There
would then be no more màlevolent talk about the decay and downfall of
the British Empire.
Mr. Chamberlain, speaking for the Opposition, took no objection to
the spirit and principles of the Chancellor's speech, but regretted
that the proposals had not been made at the outset of the war, and
that revenue was confined to so few fruitful channels. But he made no
opposition to the general proposals, and was sure that every income-tax
payer would bear his share.
We append a table (taken from _The Times_) showing "the Budget in
brief."
£
New Estimate of Revenue 195,796,000
New Estimate of Expenditure 535,867,000
-----------
Deficiency 339,571,000
Deficiency made up of--
Loss of Revenue due to War 11,128,000
War Expenditure 328,443,000
Deficiency met by--
New Taxation 15,500,000
Suspension of Sinking Fund 2,750,000
From Existing Loans 91,000,000
From New Loan 230,321,000
THE NEW TAXES.
Income-tax and supertax doubled and charged on one-third of the
current year's income. 17_s._ 3_d._ on barrel of beer, equal to
1/2_d._ on a half-pint. 3_d._ per lb. on tea, making the tax 8_d._
INCOME TAX.
On earned incomes 1_s._ (instead of 9_d._) for rest of current year
and 1_s._ 6_d._ for 1915-16.
On unearned incomes 1_s._ 8_d._ (instead of 1_s._ 3_d._) for rest
of 1914-15 and 2_s._ 6_d._ for 1915-16.
YIELD OF NEW TAXATION.
-------------------------------------------------------------
|Rest of Year| |
| 1914-15. | 1915-16 |
---------------------------------|------------|--------------|
| | |
| £ | £ |
Income-tax | 11,000,000 | 38,750,000 |
Supertax | 1,500,000 | 6,000,000 |
Beer Duty | 2,500,000 | 17,600,000 |
Tea | 950,000 | 3,200,000 |
---------------------------------|------------|--------------|
| | |
| 15,950,000 | 65,550,000 |
Less concessions on Licence Duty | 450,000 | 500,000 |
|------------|------------- |
| 15,500,000 | 65,050,000 |
-------------------------------------------------------------
The sacrifices demanded by the Budget were patriotically accepted
by the nation, but concessions were made in regard to the income
tax, supertax, and the beer tax. In the debate (Nov. 19) the
Attorney-General explained that payers of income tax would be allowed,
as they had been before 1907, to take into account their actual income
for the year, and supertax payers would pay on the year's income
instead of the three years' average, provided that in both cases
their income had been reduced owing solely to the war; Mr. Henderson
(Lab.) thought that the tea duty should have been increased by 2_d._
only, and that the only fair way to treat the working classes was by a
graduated wage tax--a proposition which the Chancellor of the Exchequer
accepted in principle, but declared to be impracticable at that time.
Objections made to the increase of the beer tax were met (Nov. 24) by
the concession of a rebate of 2_s._ per barrel up to March 31, 1916,
and 1_s._ from that date to March 31, 1917, to enable the trade to
adapt itself. The tax was calculated, it was explained, by gravity,
not by bulk, and the publican would gain most on the lighter beers.
The concession, however, was regarded by Mr. A. Chamberlain and others
as inadequate. A concession in respect of income tax was made also to
members of the Army and Navy and Red Cross ambulance workers, allowing
them to pay on actual instead of on average income.
The debates on the following days require little notice. A Committee
of the Commons was appointed (Nov. 18) to deal with pensions and
allowances to wounded soldiers, and to children and dependants of
those killed in the war; and the Reports of Supply and the debates on
the Consolidated Fund Bill provided opportunities for raising various
questions connected with the war. It may be mentioned that Mr. Wedgwood
(L.), who appeared in the House in uniform, asked the Government (Nov.
23) to direct the civil population what they were to do in the event
of a German raid, improbable though such a contingency might be. He
urged that every one ought to fight the Germans if they came. The
Under-Secretary for War, however, replied that emergency committees
to deal with the subject were being formed, but for the present it
was undesirable to make public any instructions. [Such instructions
were, however, issued privately to local authorities, parish clergy,
and other prominent persons in certain districts.] We may mention also
an emphatic protest by the Opposition leader against the restrictive
interpretation put by the Solicitor-General on the powers of the Press
Bureau (p. 233); as the result, the Government two days later agreed
to qualify considerably the clause in the Defence of the Realm Bill
giving them powers "to prevent the spread of reports likely to cause
disaffection or alarm," and the Solicitor-General also qualified his
previous utterance.
On November 25 the House was informed through the medium of the
Under-Secretary for India, that Colombia and Ecuador had failed to
observe an attitude of strict neutrality. Colombia, in spite of
representations from the British _charge d'affaires_, had allowed the
wireless station at Cartagena to continue working with its German
staff, nominally under censorship, really under German influence; and
German steamers in Colombian ports, though their wireless installations
had ostensibly been dismantled, had continued to use them with the
attachment of a muffler. As to Ecuador, its Foreign Minister had
informed the British and French representatives at Quito on October 4
that German warships had used the Galapagos Islands as a naval base,
and the Ecuadorean Government had not complied with the request of the
British and French legations to prevent the use of the wireless station
at Guayaquil as an intelligence centre for belligerents. The Government
had therefore decided to appeal, in conjunction with that of France, to
the good offices of the United States Government. [This was a notable
recognition of the Monroe doctrine, but both the offending States
were likely, from their recent history, to be specially resentful of
American interference.]
The day following (Nov. 26) was marked by a grave naval disaster.
The battleship _Bulwark_, lying off Sheerness, blew up at 7.35 A.M.,
probably through an internal magazine explosion, and only fourteen men
were saved out of a crew exceeding 750. No reason was discovered for
supposing that the disaster was not due to accident, but its precise
cause was not ascertainable. In announcing the disaster to the House,
the First Lord said that the mere loss of the ship did not sensibly
affect the military position, and expressed, on behalf of the House,
its sorrow and its sympathy with the relatives and friends of the
victims.
Next, the Under-Secretary for India moved a resolution sanctioning the
application of Indian revenues to war expenditure outside India, but
not in Europe. He mentioned that the Indian troops, besides their work
at Tsingtau, Fao, and Basra, were in force in Egypt, took part in the
landing at Sheikh Said and in the attack, against great odds, in East
Africa, and had speedily adapted themselves to the novel conditions
of fighting in France. Of their record both India and England would
be proud. He mentioned again the zeal and munificence of the ruling
Chiefs, the reasoned loyalty of the Indian educated classes, as well
as the "wave of instructive and emotional loyalty" that had swept
over India, and announced the creation of an Executive Council in the
United Provinces, and he indicated the hope of increasing friendship
throughout the Empire which was encouraged by comradeship in arms.
In the miscellaneous debate which followed on the Consolidated Fund
Bill the matter of most general interest was the action of the
Government with regard to spies and alien enemies. The Home Secretary
explained that while his Department was generally regarded as
responsible for public safety throughout the country, he had no real
power outside the metropolitan area. In this, since the war began,
120,000 cases of suspicion had been investigated, 342 persons interned,
and 6,000 houses ransacked. Complaints had been made of favouritism
towards Baron Schroeder and other wealthy Germans, but had the Baron
not been naturalised his firm, the largest accepting house in the
City, would have closed its doors, and there would have been a great
commercial disaster. To lock up all Germans and Austrians, as some
people desired, might lead to reprisals, and many of them were only
technically foreigners. On the question of internment, the military
authority was the decisive authority under the Hague Conventions. The
really dangerous spies were those of British nationality.
The spy peril had been dealt with in the other House on the previous
day (Nov. 25). The Earl of Crawford then admitted that much had been
done since his last speech (p. 231), but the complaints in it had been
substantiated, and a clear statement should be given of the legal
responsibilities of the authorities concerned, and the policy of the
Government should be codified and simplified. Lord Leith of Fyvie
complained that money was coming from German sources to Germans in
Great Britain, that favouritism was being shown to rich enemy aliens,
and that coal was being supplied to German warships from the West of
Scotland and Ireland. The Lord Chancellor asked for concrete instances,
stating that there was no evidence of these supplies, explained the
distribution of powers between the Home Office, the War Office, and
the Admiralty, who were closely co-operating, and said that cases
of espionage were being carefully followed up, but the difficulty
of defeating it was enormous, and the worst offenders were probably
English.
But the most interesting part of the proceedings in the Upper House
was the further statement (Nov. 26) by Earl Kitchener on the progress
of the war in the past six weeks. He mentioned that the delay caused
by the British expedition to Antwerp in the release of its German
besiegers just gave Sir John French time to prevent the Germans
reaching the northern coast of France; that the British cavalry
divisions, extended for seven miles of front in trenches, threw back
the fierce attacks of a German Army Corps for more than two days; that
Sir John French's position was attacked at one time by eleven army
corps, and that on November 11 a supreme--but unsuccessful--effort was
made by the Prussian Guard to force its way through the British lines,
and carry them at all costs by sheer weight of numbers. The British
troops before Ypres, after fourteen days and nights in the trenches,
had been relieved by French reinforcements, and several Territorial
battalions had joined. The British losses, though heavy, were slight
in comparison with the German. He acknowledged the "tenacity and
endurance," and the high fighting qualities of the French Army, and the
pluck and gallantry of the Belgian Army and the King, and he mentioned
that on the Eastern front the Russians had checked and defeated the
Germans, inflicting on them heavier losses than they had ever sustained
before. After referring to the operations against Turkey, he said that
the publication of news must be governed by the needs of the French
Army, the larger force, but the Government desired to keep nothing
back which could not be utilised by the enemy. The difficulties of
providing and equipping the new Army were being successfully met, and
he felt confident that further calls on the manhood of England would be
responded to in a manner and spirit which would ensure the prosecution
of the war to its successful conclusion. Later, Earl Kitchener said
that recruits were coming in at the rate of 30,000 weekly besides the
regiments then being formed by different localities; and the Lord
Chancellor promised that information should be given in the future as
to the action of civilians during invasion.
On the Report of the War Loan Obligations Bill next day (Nov. 27)
important statements were made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer
and the First Lord of the Admiralty, reviewing the financial and
naval position respectively. The former said that the Government
had taken unprecedented responsibilities in the interest of the
mechanism of international trade. In the Napoleonic wars practically
all the countries were self-contained; Great Britain's total imports
and exports amounted in value to some 86,000,000_l._; in 1912 their
value exceeded 1,400,000,000_l._ The international trade in the
Napoleonic wars amounted to perhaps 200,000,000_l._; in 1913 it was
valued at 3,000,000,000_l._, and Great Britain provided the capital
to raise and move the produce, and carried half the produce, of the
world. Transactions between merchants in China and the United States,
for instance, were paid for by bills of exchange on London. Very
little of the business was done with gold; London in 1913 received
50,000,000_l._ in gold and paid out 45,000,000_l._ All this delicate
paper machinery crashed into a war affecting two-thirds of the world.
There was inevitable confusion, and a deadlock, due to a failure of
remittances from abroad to cover bills representing 350,000,000_l._
to 400,000,000_l._ There was a complete breakdown of the exchanges,
as if a shell had broken an aqueduct; Argentina owed Great Britain
400,000,000_l._, but the latter could not buy a single cargo of
frozen meat. Had the machine been left broken, the general distress
in Great Britain would have been unutterable. The Government had to
save British industry, commerce, and labour. They had invited the
assistance of men of great experience, and eventually had set up a
permanent advisory Committee. He acknowledged the great assistance
rendered by Mr. Chamberlain, Lords St. Aldwyn and Revelstoke, and the
Lord Chief Justice, the latter, with Sir John Bradbury, constituting a
Court of Appeal. They decided that something must be done at once to
avert a run on the banks, and declared a limited moratorium, and then
decided to advance to the banks Treasury notes up to 20 per cent. of
their deposits. At first the banks availed themselves of this currency
facility to the extent of 13,000,000_l._; the sum outstanding was
only 244,000_l._ The currency notes of 1_l._ and 10_s._ outstanding
amounted to 33,892,000_l._, 25,696,000_l._ being in 1_l._ notes. Next,
the Government guaranteed the payment of all bills accepted by British
houses, giving them a reasonable time to collect them. Great Britain
had assets of some 4,000,000,000_l._ of good foreign securities, and
some 13,000,000,000_l._ worth of collieries, mines, factories, etc., at
home; to allow its credit to remain doubtful for some 350,000,000_l._,
all or nearly all owing to British subjects, would have been criminal.
By these three steps the unimpeachable character of the British bill of
exchange had been guaranteed, and a financial catastrophe, probably
without parallel, avoided. But they had to discriminate between bills,
and experts could do so instinctively; and for this reason facilities
had been partly refused in the case of Mr. Crisp, of which Sir A.
Markham (L., _Notts_) had complained earlier in the debate. Only
one member of an accepting house had been on the Committee of the
Bank of England which examined the bills, and his business was with
a neutral country. They discounted 57,000_l._ of Mr. Crisp's bills,
but as collateral security for another 200,000_l._ he tendered only
securities worth 72,000_l._ Only 50,000,000_l._ of bills, or about
one-ninth of the total, would have to be put aside as dealing with
belligerent countries or for analogous reasons. The loss would depend
on the length and the issue of the war. Before ending the moratorium
they had to consider: (1) the business specially affected by the war,
such as the Scottish fishing industry, whose case they met by the
Courts (Emergency Powers) Bill (p. 196); (2) the restoration of the
foreign exchanges, which they effected by restoring the old-machinery,
releasing the endorsers and drawers of Bills, and retaining simply the
liability of the acceptors; (3) the restoration of the Stock Exchange,
where the difficulty was that 70,000,000_l._ or 80,000,000_l._ of
securities were hypothecated in respect of debts incurred before the
war began. Had the banks pressed for these debts, the securities would
have been placed on the market, their value would have been deplorably
reduced, and the State, now the sole borrower, could have raised
money only at incredible rates. The Government had left the banks to
make their own arrangements with the Stock Exchange, but had agreed
to advance 60 per cent. of the value of the securities on July 29 on
condition that the banks undertook not to put their securities on
the market till six months after the war; and had arranged that the
Stock Exchange should only open with the sanction of the Treasury and
under conditions to be imposed by it in the public interest. Not one
application had been made for Government credit, either in respect of
this arrangement or of a similar guarantee through which the Liverpool
Cotton Exchange had been reopened. Provincial traders who had been
sending goods to the Continent on credit, without receiving bills of
exchange, had been promised Government assistance to the extent of 50
per cent. of the credit value of the interest, on condition that the
local banks, who knew their men, undertook 25 per cent. Applications
amounting to 16,000,000_l._ had come in in respect of these debts, and
the Government hoped to do something at the earliest possible moment.
Britain was still supreme in international commerce, its money market
was better than any other, the gold at the Bank had risen during
the war from 26,000,000_l._ to 85,500,000_l._ and they had raised
in all 440,000,000_l._ with the Stock Exchange closed. The loan of
350,000,000_l._ (p. 236) had been over-subscribed, and there had been
nearly 100,000 applications for small amounts, so the sum had been
raised without any of the German expedients for raising a smaller loan
at a higher interest. Unemployment had gone down, confidence had been
restored, British credit had stood the strain, the market had been
less affected than any in the world. The raising of the loan gave
him confidence that British credit was built on foundations that no
foreseeable contingency could destroy.
In the subsequent debate Mr. Austen Chamberlain paid special
tributes to the services of the Bank of England, its Governor, its
ex-Governor (Mr. Cole), and Lord Revelstoke; the President of the
Board of Agriculture gave particulars of a proposed scheme for the
manufacture of aniline dyes, hitherto made exclusively in Germany--the
consumers to subscribe 3,000,000_l._, the Government, subject to
certain conditions as to control, to guarantee debenture interest on
another 1,500,000_l._; and Mr. Bonar Law endorsed this scheme and
criticised, in moderate terms, the recent purchase by the Government of
18,000,000_l._ worth of sugar, and the total prohibition of the import
of sugar in consequence. The Home Secretary explained that the sole aim
was to prevent sugar coming from neutral countries and being replaced
there by German sugar. The Bill was subsequently read a third time.
On the adjournment, Lord Charles Beresford (U.) commented favourably,
on the whole, on the naval position. The First Lord of the Admiralty,
in reply, said that it was useless to discuss particular incidents,
such as the battle off Chile, the loss of the _Aboukir_ and her
consorts, and the expedition to Antwerp, without the disclosure, at
present impossible, of all the orders and the entire situation. The
only rule as to publishing information was that the publication should
not interfere with the operations of the war; and he expressed the
gratitude of the Admiralty for the reserve shown by the Press. The
incidents seen were a very small part of the work going on all over the
world. The British Navy had been confronted in the event of war by four
main perils--(1) surprise before it was in its war stations [which had
been averted by the assemblage at Spithead]; (2) the escape of fast
armed liners of the enemy, but only 1.9 per cent. of the mercantile
marine had been lost, against an estimate before the war of 5 per
cent.; (3) mines, but the limits of that danger could now be discerned
and it was being further restricted and controlled; (4) submarines,
a novel and very grave danger, but British power in submarines was
far greater than German, and the only reason it could not produce
greater results was the rarity of a target for attack. A fifth danger,
oversea invasion, he dismissed curtly as an enterprise perilous for
the invaders. Of British shipping 97 per cent. was plying, of German
shipping less than 11 per cent. was plying or unaccounted for, and
only ten German ships, it was believed, were trading on the seas,
while the Germans were becoming deficient in war material. The results
of the German policy of attrition so far were not unsatisfactory to
Great Britain. The losses of submarines had been equal, but the German
loss proportionately was much larger, the British vessels being more
numerous; of destroyers, the British loss was _nil_, the German eight
or ten; of the older armoured cruisers, it was six to two, but the
British were three or four times more numerous, and therefore more
frequently exposed to attack; in fast modern light cruisers,--the most
important class of modern vessels,--the proportion had been 36 to
25; Britain had lost one-eighteenth, Germany one-fourth. The British
additions, recent and future, would make the British strength beyond
comparison greater. In Dreadnoughts British superiority at the start
was just under 60 per cent.--36 to 21; by the end of 1915 Germany could
not possibly have more than three besides; Great Britain should have
fifteen, including two taken over from Turkey, and one from Chile, and
could afford to lose a super-Dreadnought a month and yet be in about as
good a position as at first. There was no attrition by wear and tear.
The health of the Fleet was twice as good as in time of peace, and the
conduct of the men almost perfect. There was no reason whatever for
nervousness, anxiety, or alarm. We had powerful Allies on the seas,
but, even were we single-handed indefinitely, we might go on drawing
our supplies and transporting our troops as we pleased.
After a short speech of concurrence from Mr. Bonar Law the House
adjourned till February 2.
The war legislation passed in the first instalment of this new Session
included Bills to consolidate and amend the Defence of the Realm Acts,
based on the experience gained during the war; providing pensions for
soldiers and their dependants; enacting that acceptance of a commission
in the Army or Navy ["office under the Crown"] by members of the
Commons should not vacate their seats; providing that members of local
authorities should not be disqualified by absence, if they were on
naval or military service; facilitating land drainage (as a means of
employment); and, notably, amending the Trading with the Enemy Act.
This last measure set up a custodian of enemy property in the person
of the Public Trustee (in England and Wales; other arrangements were
made in Scotland and Ireland) to whom must now be paid all dividends,
interest, or share of profits which would otherwise have gone to an
alien enemy, for him to hold till after the war, The Bill contained
also provisions against the transfer of enemy claims, or stock or
shares, to neutrals, and against the transformation of German into
British companies; and it made even an offer to trade with the enemy a
criminal offence.
About ten days before the adjournment, the work of recruiting for the
new armies had been facilitated through the commencement of the issue
by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (representing all parties) of
a circular to every householder in the United Kingdom, asking for the
names of such members of the household as might be able to enlist.
Meanwhile, the war had been going well for Great Britain. The
Germans had clearly been foiled in their attempts to break through
in Flanders; Zeebrugge was heavily bombarded by a British squadron
(Nov. 23) consisting of three small cruisers and some destroyers
and torpedo boats, with the effect, it was hoped, of destroying the
German preparations for its use as a base for submarines. The British
positions before Ypres had been held, and the floods between Dixmude
and Nieuport had rendered a German advance there impossible. In the
Vosges the French were advancing slightly, elsewhere they were holding
their own. A daring air raid on the Zeppelin airship factory at
Friedrichshafen had been undertaken from French territory (Nov. 21) by
Squadron Commander E. F. Briggs of the Royal Naval Air Service, with
Flight Commander J. T. Babington and Flight Lieutenant S. V. Sippe, who
dropped bombs on the factory under heavy fire, and, it was believed,
did, considerable damage. Commander Briggs was wounded and captured;
the others returned safely. (This startling raid of 250 miles, 120
of which were in enemy territory, caused a complaint from the Swiss
Government that Swiss territory had been violated, a contention which
the British Government denied.) Even more encouraging was the news from
the Persian Gulf that the British and Indian troops which had landed at
the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab, after defeating the Turks on November
15 and 17, had occupied Basra on the 21st, only seventeen days from
the declaration of war. At sea the large German submarine U 18 was
rammed by a British patrol vessel, surrendered, and sank (Nov. 23).
On the other hand, it was disquieting that a German submarine should
have sunk two merchant vessels near Havre at three days' interval; and
the terrible explosion of the _Bulwark_ (p. 239), though the ship was
almost obsolete, reduced the _personnel_ of the Navy by some 750 men.
The confidence of the British military authorities was exhibited by the
visit paid to the troops at the front by the King--the first such visit
by a British monarch since George II fought at Dettingen in 1743. On
Sunday, November 29, His Majesty crossed to France in a warship; he was
met by the Prince of Wales on landing, and next day, after inspecting
some of the base hospitals (including one for Indian troops) he reached
the British general headquarters. During the three ensuing days (Dec.
1-3) he made a tour of the Army Corps, visiting their headquarters,
meeting the generals and staffs, and inspecting all the troops not in
the trenches, who were lined up, in large or small bodies, to greet
him as he motored past. On December 1 he visited the Fourth Army
Corps, and met President Poincaré, M. Viviani (the French Premier), and
General Joffre, who accompanied him in his inspection; the last named
he invested with the G.C.B., the two former dined with him. On December
2 he visited a Cavalry Corps and the Third Army Corps, and invested
several French officers with British orders; on December 3 he invested
Sir John French with the Order of Merit, inspected the First and
Second Corps and some cavalry, and obtained a view of the battlefield,
including Lille, Roubaix, and Ypres, where shells were bursting.
On December 4 he made himself acquainted with the work of various
departments of the Staff and of the auxiliary services; and he visited
the Belgian headquarters and met King Albert on the last fragment of
Belgian territory still unoccupied by the invader. On December 5 he saw
the work of other auxiliary services, and visited the headquarters of
the Royal Flying Corps. Throughout his visit this corps had "carried
out a continuous aerial patrol" above him. That night he returned to
England.
Before leaving, His Majesty issued a special order to the Army as
follows:--
Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Men:
I am very glad to have been able to see my Army in the Field.
I much wished to do so, in order to gain a slight experience of the
life you are leading.
I wish I could have spoken to you all, to express my admiration of
the splendid manner in which you have fought and are still fighting
against a powerful and relentless enemy.
By your discipline, pluck, and endurance, inspired by the
indomitable regimental spirit, you have not only upheld the
tradition of the British Army, but added fresh lustre to its
history.
I was particularly impressed by your soldierly, healthy, cheerful
appearance.
I cannot share in your trials, dangers, and successes, but I can
assure you of the proud confidence and gratitude of myself and of
your fellow-countrymen.
We follow you in our daily thoughts on your certain road to victory.
GEORGE, R.I.
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, _December 5, 1914_.
The Prince of Wales, it must here be noted, had gone to the front at
his own earnest desire six weeks earlier, and had proved himself,
according to _The Times_ military correspondent, "one of the keenest
and hardest soldiers of the army." He was aide-de-camp to Sir John
French; but he had had a varied experience, had visited the trenches,
including those occupied by the Indian troops, and had been several
times under fire.
Though few details as to the military operations were published, it
seemed clear that the Germans would be dislodged only by much larger
numbers; and enlistment was supposed to be hampered by the continuance
of professional (Association) football. The matches attracted
thousands, many of them, doubtless, needed by home industries, but
these, it was contended, might have been better employed drilling than
looking on; and the players were excellent military material, but
were bound by contract to their clubs. Attempts to induce enlistment
from among the crowds of spectators in London (Nov. 21) brought only
one recruit. An International Football Conference (representing the
nations of the United Kingdom) decided at the end of November to drop
the "international" matches, but not the cup ties, _i.e._ the matches
determining the competitors for the Association Challenge Cup, decided
at the Crystal Palace in the spring. The Scottish delegates, after
consulting the War Office, decided to abandon both sets of contests
till after the war; but the Council of the Football Association
confirmed the decision of the Conference (Dec. 7). Its course was
defended, partly because the matches provided recreation for workers
who could not be spared, partly in view of the financial needs of
the clubs and the players. The Association, it was urged, had done
something for recruiting, and had contributed to the various war funds.
The formation of a Footballers' Battalion was authorised by the War
Office; but the episode provided another argument for the advocates of
compulsory service.
The naval element in the war, however, seemed at least as important
as the military; and here the signs were promising. It was true that
extensive preparations against a raid had been made in the last week of
November, though little was said of them in the Press; and also that
the Admiralty had notified (Dec. 4) that lighthouses and buoys in the
Channel on the east of a line drawn from Selsey Bill to Cape Barfleur,
might be altered or withdrawn, and signals in this area changed or
discontinued, without notice, and had specified stations where pilots
could be obtained for the ports or areas affected--arrangements
probably motived by the activity of German submarines off Havre (p.
245); and that the German merchant cruiser _Berlin_, which had run
into Trondhjem short of coal and had been interned there, was believed
to have been laying oceanic mines. But these were only temporary
inconveniences; and the country was inspirited (Dec. 10) by the news
of a great German naval defeat off Port Stanley, Falkland Islands,
on December 8. Vice-Admiral Sir F. Sturdee, who had recently been
Chief of Staff at the Admiralty, and had been in London at the time
of the action off Chile (p. 226), had left Devonport (as afterwards
transpired) about November 15, and with a squadron of six cruisers,
the _Kent_, _Carnarvon_, _Cornwall_, _Glasgow_, _Bristol_ and
_Macedonia_, the latter a converted P. and O. liner, and the battle
cruisers _Inflexible_ and _Invincible_, had arrived at Port Stanley
(where they met the _Canopus_) on December 7 to coal, before searching
for the German squadron. Next day this squadron approached Port
Stanley, intending, it was said, to occupy it as a coaling station. It
consisted of the _Scharnhorst_, _Gneisenau_, and three small cruisers,
the _Leipzig_, _Dresden_, and _Nürnberg_, with a merchant cruiser,
the _Prinz Eitel Fritz_, and two transports. On their approach the
_Canopus_ opened fire; the other British ships at once came out,
chased the Germans for nearly six hours, and then engaged them. The
battle cruisers, assisted by the _Carnarvon_, concentrated their fire,
first on Admiral von Spee's ship, the _Scharnhorst_, which sank,
refusing to cease firing, about 4 P.M.; next on the _Gneisenau_, which
sank two hours afterwards. The German cruisers had meanwhile diverged
southwards; but the _Glasgow_ overtook the _Leipzig_, and, with the
_Cornwall_, sank her, after some hours' fighting, at 9.15 P.M.; the
_Kent_, meanwhile, came up with the _Nürnberg_, and sank her about 7.30
P.M.; while her crew were being picked up, the _Dresden_ and _Prinz
Eitel Fritz_ got away. The _Bristol_ and the _Macedonia_ sank the two
transports or supply ships, the _Baden_ and _Santa Ysabel_, which had
gone off to the west. The _Dresden_ was reported shortly afterwards
at Punta Arenas, Straits of Magellan, but had not been heard of again
by the end of the year. Some 2,000 Germans were lost, and less than a
dozen British.
Two days after this news was published, a daring feat was achieved
at the mouth of the Dardanelles. The British submarine B 11,
Lieut.-Commander Norman Holbrook, dived under five rows of mines, sank
the Turkish battleship _Messudiyeh_, which was guarding a minefield,
and returned in safety--a feat which seemed to indicate that the
entrance was not quite impregnable. For this feat Lieut.-Commander
Holbrook received the V.C.
But now it was the Germans' turn. At 8 A.M. on the morning of December
16 three German warships appeared off Hartlepool, and bombarded it from
8.15 to 8.50, killing seven and wounding fourteen of the Durham Light
Infantry who were stationed there, and also killing or wounding many
of the civil population, who crowded into the streets. About the same
time a battle cruiser and an armoured cruiser bombarded Scarborough,
damaging several churches, the Grand Hotel, and many smaller buildings,
and, rather later, two ships--probably the same--fired a few shots at
Whitby, aiming at the signal station, but damaging the famous ruined
Abbey and several buildings, though the casualties here were few. The
ships, at any rate off Hartlepool, were attacked by British patrol
vessels, and a mist facilitated their escape. Five British seamen
were killed, fifteen wounded; the rest of the injured were civilians,
including many women and children. At Hartlepool the total of deaths
eventually mounted to 119, though a few victims lingered for some
weeks; at Scarborough seventeen were killed and about twenty seriously
injured; at Whitby two were killed and two injured. People were killed
in the streets, while dressing, or at breakfast; and several of the
dead were young children.
The raid was hailed with delight in Germany, where it was defended
on the ground that the three towns were "fortified places"--which
was hardly true even of Hartlepool; but in England it stimulated
recruiting, and excited no panic. Probably all the five German battle
cruisers were engaged; and, if so, only British battle cruisers could
have overtaken them. British opinion was expressed by the First Lord
of the Admiralty in a letter of sympathy to the Mayor of Scarborough,
pointing out that the effectiveness of British naval pressure was
proved by the frenzy of hatred it aroused in the enemy. The letter
closed as follows:--
Practically the whole fast cruiser force of the German Navy,
including some great ships vital to their fleet and utterly
irreplaceable, has been risked for the passing pleasure of killing
as many English people as possible, irrespective of sex, age, or
condition, in the limited time available. To this act of military
and political folly they were impelled by the violence of feelings
which could find no other vent. This is very satisfactory, and
should confirm us in our courses. Their hate is the measure
of their fear. Its senseless expression is the proof of their
impotence and the seal of their dishonour. Whatever feats of
arms the German Navy may hereafter perform, the stigma of the
baby-killers of Scarborough will brand its officers and men while
sailors sail the seas.
Only a small proportion of the property injured was insured against war
risk; but it was announced that the Government would compensate the
sufferers.
A few days earlier (Dec. 12) Mr. Balfour, at a recruiting meeting at
Bristol, had denounced the German effort at world-dominion as a crime
against civilisation, which would not succeed while there was one
cartridge or one stout heart left in Great Britain. The superman, if he
appeared, might be left to the police; the super-State was absolutely
inconsistent with the true notion of a great community of nations. The
whole international future of the world, in his judgment, was hanging
in the balance.
Such disregard of the ordinary usages of civilised warfare as was
evinced by this bombardment tended to strengthen this attitude, and
with it the national unity achieved at the outset of the war; and on
its achievement Mr. Bonar Law threw fresh light in a speech at an
informal meeting of Unionist chairmen and agents of Parliamentary
constituencies held at the Hotel Cecil to consider the means of
co-operation as to the war and other matters. He stated that on Sunday,
August 2, he had sent the following letter to the Prime Minister:--
DEAR MR. ASQUITH,--Lord Lansdowne and I feel it our duty to inform
you that in our opinion, as well as in that of all the colleagues
whom we have been able to consult, it would be fatal to the honour
and security of the United Kingdom to hesitate in supporting France
and Russia at the present juncture; and we offer our unhesitating
support to the Government in any measures they may consider
necessary for that object.--Yours very truly,
A. BONAR LAW.
The Opposition, he claimed, had kept this pledge in letter and spirit;
and it was the first time in the history of English Parliamentary
government that an Opposition had refrained from harassing Ministers.
They had determined to make no criticism which might injure the
country; perhaps, indeed, they had not criticised the Government
enough. But he preferred this mistake to that of criticising too much.
After referring to the patriotic reserve of the Press in publishing
news, he said that the country could gain from the war only peace,
and security for that peace in the future; and for this they must have
a united nation. They could look forward to the future with complete
confidence; never before had British soldiers shown such devotion and
heroism, and the statements as to the insufficiency of recruiting were
entirely unjustified. Great Britain had got, and would get, all the men
she needed without resorting to compulsion.
For a short time this unity seemed again in danger through the refusal
of a section of Liberals at Swansea to accept the Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster (pp. 27, 33, 109) as the successor of Sir D. Brynmor
Jones, who had vacated his seat on appointment as Commissioner in
Lunacy. A three-cornered contest was expected; but the Chancellor
declined the nomination.
The unity of the Empire was not less notable. Gifts and offers of money
or local produce had poured in since the war began from the Dominions,
Crown Colonies, and Protectorates, for the use of the troops or for the
relief funds; and the donors comprised not only the Governments, but
local groups or associations, private firms, and the population as a
whole. From the Dominions came flour and meat; Rhodesia sent tobacco;
Jamaica cigarettes; Montserrat guava jelly; Mauritius sugar; South
African farmers fruit and eggs; the Emirs of Nigeria gave 38,000_l._
which was applied to the military expenditure of the Protectorate; a
body of Masai sent bullocks, the Kavirondo chiefs 3,000 goats; Niue, in
the Cook Islands, sent 164_l._ to the Empire Defence Fund and offered
200 men, the chiefs describing their island as "a small child that
stands up to help the Kingdom of George V." The Somali chiefs and those
of Uganda expressed their strong desire to fight for the King.
While the Empire thus drew together, two notable developments occurred
in its foreign relations. The first was the formal change in the legal
_status_ of Egypt, which was declared to be--what it had long been in
fact--a British Protectorate (Dec. 18). The Khedive Abbas, who had
become an open enemy, and was in Constantinople, was deposed; his
successor, Prince Kamel Pasha, received the title of Sultan; and a
British Resident--Colonel Sir Arthur MacMahon--was appointed with the
title of High Commissioner instead of, as formerly, Consul-General.
A more novel change was the despatch of a British envoy to the Vatican
in the person of Sir Henry Howard, whose mission was to last till
the end of the war. Its exact scope was not stated; but it seemed
probable that the Pope, whose attempt to effect a truce at the front
for Christmas had been frustrated by the opposition of Russia, intended
in due time to offer his mediation; if so, the mission was easily
intelligible. But it caused some misgiving, and not only among extreme
Protestants; for it might conceivably be interpreted abroad as implying
some sort of recognition of the temporal power of the Papacy.
It was commonly felt that one of the conditions of peace, whenever it
might come, must be the punishment of the persons responsible for the
outrages and breaches of the laws of war committed by German soldiers
in Belgium and France. Much evidence of these had been collected and
sifted, and on December 16 it was announced that a Committee had
been appointed to consider this evidence. It was a very strong one:
Viscount Bryce was the Chairman; the other members were Sir Frederick
Pollock, Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., Sir Alfred Hopkinson, K.C., Prof. A.
L. Fisher, an eminent historian, and Mr. Harold Cox, sometime M.P. for
Bath, and editor of the _Edinburgh Review_.
Meanwhile it was clear that the end of the war could only be hastened
by sending more men into the fighting line; and Mr. Bonar Law again
spoke at recruiting demonstrations in his constituency of Bootle on
December 21. He said that it had been evident for years that Germany
was preparing for war with Great Britain as her final objective;
because he knew it, he had said (A.R., 1911, p. 262) in the Commons
that he did not believe in inevitable wars; if war came, it would be
due to the want of human wisdom, and the best and perhaps the sole
guarantee of peace was that one country should realise the strength of
the other. He had thought that the rapid growth of Russian resources
would deter Germany, but she had struck precisely because of its
rapidity. Like Napoleon, she had aroused against herself the moral
forces of the world. She had not merely ignored these moral forces,
but despised them; hence her mistakes. The coast raid had made the
British people realise that they were fighting, not a superman, but a
wild beast. He eulogised the British Army; no army equal in size to the
new Army had ever been raised by voluntary enlistment, nor could it
have been so raised anywhere but in Great Britain. We should get all
the men we needed, but, if not, compulsion would be demanded by the
nation. The Earl of Derby, who also spoke, remarked that Prince Henry
of Prussia, one of the heads of the German Navy, knew that Scarborough
was defenceless, having visited it in 1912 as a guest.
It was unfortunate that, while so many efforts were being made to
stimulate recruiting, the military authorities should have issued a
circular implying that soldiers' wives would be under the special
supervision of the police. This called forth indignant protests from
local authorities and trade unions; but it was explained to mean that
the police desired lists of the wives of soldiers, in order to treat
them leniently should they be charged with drunkenness. Their increased
leisure and their Government allowances tended to increase their
temptations to this offence.
A fresh stimulus to patriotic feeling, however, was provided by the
group of air raids which marred Christmas peace in this amazing year.
On Christmas Eve a British naval airman dropped twelve bombs on an
airship shed in Brussels, inflicting, it was hoped, considerable damage
on the Parseval airship it was believed to contain. On the same day a
German aeroplane attempted to drop a bomb on Dover Castle, but missed
its mark by some 400 yards, and, beyond a hole in a bed of cabbages
and some broken windows, no damage was done. On Christmas Day another
German aeroplane was sighted over Sheerness at 12.35 midday; aided by
fog, it went up the Thames as far as Erith, probably to drop bombs
on Woolwich Arsenal; but it was chased by three British aeroplanes
and fired at by aircraft guns, and an exciting conflict took place
within sight of Southend about 1.30; but it escaped, though probably
the airman was mortally wounded. Earlier on that day a British raid
of considerable significance had been made on Cuxhaven and the
German warships lying off that port. Seven naval seaplanes, starting
from a point near Heligoland, and escorted by H.M.S. _Arethusa_ and
_Undaunted_, two of the newest light cruisers, and by a destroyer
flotilla and several submarines, dropped bombs on the warships and
on "points of military significance." The escort was attacked by
two Zeppelins and several hostile seaplanes and submarines, but
the Zeppelins were easily put to flight, the seaplanes missed the
British ships, and the submarines were avoided. None of the other
German warships came out; the British ships remained three hours, and
re-embarked three of the seven British airmen with their machines,
three without them; the seventh, Flight-Commander Hewlett, disabled
his machine, which had met with an accident, and was picked up by a
Dutch trawler, and allowed some days later to return to England. It was
believed that a Zeppelin had been hit, and that the raid, which caused
great delight in England, had set up a corresponding degree of disquiet
in Germany.
But these exciting episodes had no direct bearing on the fortunes
of the war. Its ultimate outcome was likely to depend partly on the
cohesive and combative power of the British Empire, partly on the
attitude of the greater neutral nations, partly on the economic
pressure exercised on Germany by the British Navy, and partly on the
ability of Great Britain to adjust her trade to the new conditions
imposed by the loss of her best customer and of the sources of supply
of the components of many of her manufactured goods. On all these the
outlook as the year closed was encouraging. The unity of the Empire had
never been more conspicuously manifested, and, as the year closed, it
was seen to extend even to the Sudan. Recruiting at home, in spite of
the pessimists, was not officially regarded as unsatisfactory, and the
difficulties in the equipment of the three (or more) new Armies were
apparently being overcome. Meanwhile numbers of men past the military
age or unable to enlist for other reasons were serving as special
constables or organising themselves into bodies of auxiliary troops.
There were signs that Italy and Roumania might soon be fighting on the
side of the Allies in order to share in the heritage of the tottering
Dual Monarchy; the sympathy of the great mass of the neutral nations
was estranged from Germany, and the complaints of British interference
with their trade were not regarded as giving ground for apprehending
serious friction, even in the case of the American Note (_post_, For.
Hist., Chap. VII.). At home, serious crime had become rare, and the
economic outlook was unexpectedly hopeful. The sufferings predicted
by Sir Edward Grey (p. 171) had not as yet been experienced; and
unemployment, owing to the demands set up by the provision of the new
Armies, was far less than it had commonly been in time of peace. It
was seriously felt only in the cotton trade, in a few luxury trades,
and in some of the fishing ports, owing to the interruption caused by
the war and the loss of the German market for herrings. Pauperism in
England and Wales had risen rapidly at the outset of the war; it had
subsequently declined to a point only a little above the exceptionally
low figures of a year earlier; in London it was actually below them.
Doubtless this temporary prosperity was mainly due to an essentially
unproductive consumption which would bring its own penalties; but it
seemed probable that some compensation might be found for war losses
in the capture of certain branches of German trade. A movement for
the production in Great Britain of goods for which British consumers
had hitherto been dependent on German or Austrian industry had been
favoured by the Patents and Designs Act, through which British
consumers were enabled to ignore the patent rights of alien enemies,
and was energetically aided by the Board of Trade, which collected and
supplied the fullest possible information as to the means of carrying
out the processes, and providing the components, which had hitherto
been left to German or Austrian industry alone. Business had begun
to adapt itself to the new conditions, and the Stock Exchange was
about to reopen. Finally, the Government had carried out a number of
daring measures, which had collectively averted a colossal economic
disaster. Some of these, notably its huge purchases of sugar and the
subsequent prohibition of the importation of that commodity (Oct.
24, p. 243) in order to prevent the sale of the German surplus, were
severely criticised by orthodox economists, and set up speculation as
to the possibility of a complete change after the war in the financial
and commercial policy of Great Britain. But as war measures they were
generally received with acquiescence. On all grounds, therefore, the
British nation felt itself entitled to look forward to the issue of the
struggle with quiet confidence, and to possess its soul in patience
until a vigorous offensive should become possible in the spring.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] The Introduction to this pamphlet has been used in the following
sketch of the negotiations, The Belgian Grey Book (Oct. 6), the Russian
Orange Book (Sept. 21) and the French Yellow Book (Dec. 1) further set
forth the Allies' case. Many of the official documents were published
as a pamphlet by the _New York Times_.
[3] "Great Britain and the European Crisis" (the "Penny Blue Book"),
No. 107.
[4] A letter from the Scottish Secretary contesting these statements
was published November 21.
CHAPTER VI.
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.
I. SCOTLAND.
The history of Scotland during this eventful year was even more
interwoven than usual with that of Great Britain in general. The war
and the land and suffragist agitation affected the whole country alike,
though no general scheme of agrarian reform for Scotland was yet put
forth by semi-official Liberalism. The Chancellor of the Exchequer,
however, stimulated the controversy by his attacks on the Duke of
Sutherland and others (p. 14), and drew from Mr. Munro Ferguson, M.P.,
the notable declaration (at Inverness, Jan. 3) that if the 250,000_l._
spent on reclamation by the third Duke of Sutherland had been devoted
to afforestation, the land would now be worth millions. The Chancellor
also managed to placate the "single taxers" (p. 13), who were strong
north of the Tweed. As in England, it was complained that the creation
of small holdings did not proceed with sufficient rapidity, and a Bill
promoted by unofficial Liberals and designed to improve the machinery
of the Act of 1911, which passed its second reading in the Commons on
March 13 and got through a Standing Committee, was eventually dropped
for want of time. The debate on the Government of Scotland Bill (May
15, p. 104) was notable for the marked difference of opinion among
its supporters regarding women's suffrage. The serious deficiency
of housing accommodation for the workmen employed by the Government
at Rosyth excited severe comment in both Houses and was a factor in
the introduction of the first Housing Bill (p. 209). Two minor legal
reforms affecting land should perhaps be mentioned: the Entails
(Scotland) Act and the Feudal Casualties (Scotland) Act, making highly
technical, but important, changes in the Scottish law of real property.
The movement for reunion of the two great Presbyterian Churches made
further progress. Early in May the Union Committee of the Established
Church issued a draft constitution as a basis for discussion. It
consisted of nine articles, and it specifically defined the creed
of the Church of Scotland, and declared that that Church adhered to
the principles of the Protestant Reformation and of the Westminster
Confession of Faith, but reserved the right to modify the expression of
the Confession and to interpret the constitution of the Church, subject
always to agreement with the Word of God and the fundamental doctrines
of the Christian faith. It claimed continuity with the historical
Church of Scotland recognised in the Act of Union, and it explicitly
declared that the Presbyterian form of Church government was the only
form for that Church. It recognised that the nation as a body should
render homage to God and promote His Kingdom; but it expressly claimed
liberty for the Church in things spiritual. A minority Report, signed
by sixteen members out of 100, proposed to define the doctrine of the
Church finally and more precisely, and to insist on the principle
of Establishment. In the General Assembly, however (May 26), only
about half a dozen members opposed the acceptance of the Report of
the majority. The United Free Church Assembly, on the other hand,
authorised its Committee to continue conference with the Church of
Scotland; and an amendment, in effect postulating Disestablishment as a
necessary preliminary to the union of the two Churches, was supported
by only fifty or sixty members in an assemblage numbering about a
thousand. On both sides, therefore, the extremists were diminishing,
and the old cries were losing their force.
In February a Report of the Departmental Committee on Sea Fisheries
(Cd. 7221) recommended the abolition or modification of the existing
Fishery Board, and the development of the fisheries by various
means, including the organisation of a Statistical and Intelligence
Department, the employment of a chemist to study fish curing and of
representatives in foreign markets, instruction in the habits of fishes
and the action of fishing gear, and in motor-boat engineering, with a
nautical course for boys in elementary schools. It did not favour State
loans for fishermen.
The war, as in England, considerably affected the east coast, partly
through the apprehension of naval and air raids and the excitement
caused by allegations of espionage and aid rendered by alien residents
to the enemy (pp. 231, 239), and, more substantially, by the
interference with coasting traffic, with the export of coal, with the
fisheries, and, most of all, with the trade in cured herrings, through
the total closing of the German market and the difficulties of access
to those of the other countries of Northern Europe. The embarrassment
of the traders was partly relieved by the Courts (Emergency Powers) Act
(p. 196). On the moors shooting was all but suspended; and tourists
were few. As in England, labour disputes were hastily composed; the
coal-owners abandoned their demand for a reduction of 1_s._ daily in
the miners' wages, and the threat of a general stoppage of work was
withdrawn. A pending strike of marine engineers was given up, as were
also a host of minor conflicts. "Business as usual" was the popular
motto, as in England; and recruiting was active. No figures of its
progress were available, but the controversy as to the propriety of a
continuance of football--of which there were said to be about 10,000
professional players--arose much earlier than in England, and, under
the advice of the War Office, the abandonment of matches was much more
extensive (p. 247).
Trade and industry were variously affected by the war. On the Clyde a
decline in the shipbuilding output was inevitable after the enormous
production of 1913, but many orders were in hand, and though there was
some slackening of work, there was no unemployment during the seven
months of peace. On the outbreak of the war, three yards, those of
Messrs. John Brown & Co., William Beardmore & Co., and the Fairfield
Engineering & Shipbuilding Company, were entirely devoted to naval
work, and several other firms were largely engaged in this likewise.
Statistics of it were, of course, unattainable, but employment was
abundant; and the output of mercantile shipping for the year was 307
vessels, aggregating 460,258 tons against 370, aggregating 756,975 tons
in 1913. The most notable vessels were the geared turbine twin-screw
Cunarder _Transylvania_, 14,300 tons, built by Scott's Shipbuilding &
Engineering Company, Greenock; the Anchor liner _Tuscania_, of similar
size and engine construction, built by Alex. Stephen & Son, Linthouse;
and the P. and O. liner _Kaisar-i-Hind_, 11,430 tons, built by Laird &
Co., Greenock. As soon as the war began to look more hopeful for the
Allies, new orders came, the execution of which would only be delayed
by want of men. The east coast yards produced about the same tonnage as
in 1913.
Of other trades a brief mention must suffice. The export of coal
decreased by about 15 per cent., chiefly through the closing of the
German, Austrian and Russian markets by the war. The iron and steel
trade, on the other hand, was stimulated through the removal of German
competition. The mineral oil trade was greatly upset by loss of
markets abroad and diminished consumption by reduction of lighting and
interruption of fishing, which was largely carried on by motor boats.
The jute trade declined from a height previously unattained to an
unusually low level, owing to the war and to restrictions on the export
of yarns. The linen trade also fell off greatly. The tweed trade found
compensation for the loss of the German and Austrian markets in the
demand for khaki cloth for the troops.
II. IRELAND.
The first few weeks of the year saw the decay of the Dublin strike, and
the conclusion of the inquiries which were its outcome into the conduct
of the police and the conditions of housing in the poorest quarters of
the Irish capital. The strike itself practically collapsed on January
19, with the return to work of many dockers and the reopening of the
works of the Dublin Tramways Company, which had remained closed for
nearly five months. The Commission of Inquiry into the conduct of the
police held its first sitting on January 5. As it consisted only of two
King's Counsel, its composition was regarded as unsatisfactory by trade
unionists alike in Ireland and in Great Britain; and there was an angry
scene on January 8, when Mr. Handel Booth, M.P. (_Pontefract_), who
had seen the riot in August, 1913, and was permitted to cross-examine
the witnesses, withdrew altogether, after a dispute with the counsel
for the police. But the evidence showed that the riots had been
organised, and the Commission reported to that effect, exonerating the
police force generally, while admitting that some few constables had
been guilty of assault and unjustifiable violence. The subject was
debated on the Address (p. 30), but the Labour party declined to risk
defeating the Government.
The Report of the Housing Inquiry Committee (A.E., 1913, p. 268) proved
to be a very severe condemnation of the condition of the Dublin slums
and of the conduct of the Corporation, some of whose members owned
tenement property. Existing legislation, it declared, was neglected or
abused. It condemned both the actual tenement system and the condition
of the small houses, and held that every working-class family should be
provided with a self-contained dwelling admitting of the separation of
the sexes. It estimated that at least 14,000 new houses or dwellings
were required, and it recommended, _inter alia_, State aid for
rebuilding.
Such questions had, of course, to be left to be dealt with by a Home
Rule Parliament; and this, when the year closed, was practically
assured at the termination of the war, though the position of the
Ulster Unionist constituencies and the precise extent of the Home Rule
area were still undetermined.
The conflict has been so fully described in previous chapters that
only a summary of it is needed here. Though the Nationalists ignored
Mr. O'Brien's challenge at Cork (p. 6), the tendency to compromise
manifested in such suggestions as those of Mr. F. S. Oliver, Sir Horace
Plunkett, and many other individual publicists (p. 18), was further
emphasised by the King's Speech and the debate on the Address, and
found practical expression in the promise of an Amending Bill (March
9). But the Unionist apprehensions aroused through the postponement
of any statement of its details, and the expectation that force would
ultimately be used to overcome the resistance of Ulster, combined with
the misunderstanding of the military measures contemplated by the
Government to set up a grave, though temporary, danger. The debate on
the second reading of the Home Rule Bill, however, further exhibited
the tendency to compromise and the acceptance by the Unionists of
some form of Home Rule as inevitable. The fanatics among the Ulster
Unionists, too, were warned against expecting aid from Germany (p.
75), a warning, however, afterwards discredited by the conduct of the
war by the German Government. The effect of the allegations as to the
plot against Ulster, which were renewed in April, was considerably
weakened by the gun-running from the _Fanny_ (p. 84), which was
followed by further negotiations, or approaches to negotiations,
between the Unionist leaders and the Ministry with a view to the
partial or total exclusion of Ulster from the operation of the Bill.
Agitation, meanwhile, was continued by the Unionists--- perhaps mainly
as an element in driving the bargain--and roused a counter-agitation
among the Liberal rank and file. Meanwhile the Irish Volunteer
force had been growing, and the capture of the control of it by the
Nationalist leaders converted it into a new and unexpected obstacle to
the projected resistance of the Ulster Volunteers to the realisation
of the Home Rule scheme. The Amending Bill (June 23, p. 135) provided
for the optional and temporary exclusion of such Ulster counties as
might desire to avail themselves of its provisions; but this measure
was transformed by the House of Lords so as permanently to exclude the
whole of Ulster from the operation of the Home Rule Bill--a solution
which admittedly satisfied nobody, and which would certainly have
been rejected by the House of Commons. Hence the Conference (p. 158)
ascribed, rightly or wrongly, to the intervention of the King; but,
after greatly narrowing (it was believed) the margin of difference, it
reached a deadlock.
Just at this time Sir Horace Plunkett, well known for his promotion of
co-operation in Ireland, and hitherto ranking as a moderate Unionist,
published a pamphlet entitled "The Better Way; an Appeal to Ulster not
to Desert Ireland," in which he declared that Home Rule was inevitable
and even desirable, that it would not mean "Rome Rule," and that the
exclusion of Ulster was bad in principle and might probably injure the
industry and commerce of the province. Let Ulstermen, he urged, give
Home Rule a chance. He restated his scheme for the inclusion of Ulster
subject to an option of future withdrawal, and suggested a conference
of Irishmen on the Home Rule Bill, and a scheme for combining the two
sets of Volunteers in a Territorial Force.
Under other conditions, this plea from so high an authority might have
proved very powerful; but its appearance was immediately followed by
the failure of the Conference, and the situation was made much worse
two days later by the Nationalist gun-running (July 26) and the affray
in Dublin between the crowd and the police and troops (p. 162).
The situation was saved, however, by the European crisis. Doubtless
the German Government counted on civil strife to paralyse British
efforts at resistance to its schemes. But directly war became probable
the Amending Bill was postponed; the Opposition leaders assured the
Government of their support (p. 249); Mr. Redmond promised that
the Nationalist Volunteers would co-operate with those of Ulster
in defending Ireland, and assured the Government that it had the
Nationalists' full confidence; and the contending political parties,
with few exceptions, promptly rallied to the defence of the Kingdom
and the Empire. The Nationalist and Unionist leaders alike used all
their influence to persuade their followers to join the colours (pp.
216, 229). The Nationalist rank and file were conciliated by the
prospect of Home Rule and strengthened in their allegiance by the
circumstance that Great Britain was avowedly fighting to protect the
small nations, as well as by their traditional sympathy with France;
and they were further confirmed in their attitude by the conduct of
the Germans in Belgium, especially by the destruction of the great
Catholic University of Louvain, with the vast collection of priceless
Celtic MSS., which were among the chief sources of early Irish history.
The Arms Proclamation was allowed to lapse, and the election contest
at Derry, due to the death of Mr. Hogg (L.), which had been regarded
with considerable apprehension, was averted by general consent. As in
England and Scotland all election contests were avoided, save in one
instance, due to a local dispute; in Ulster, as in England, the flow
of recruits outran the provision made for them by the War Office, and
by about the middle of October the Protestant districts had furnished
some 21,000, of which Belfast alone had contributed 7,581 or 305 per
10,000 of the population--the highest proportion of all the towns in
the United Kingdom. An Ulster Division appeared in the list of the new
Armies at the end of the year.
The vigorous and continued efforts of the Nationalist leaders to
promote enlistment were unfortunately opposed by small and virulently
hostile bodies of extremists--Sinn Fein (A.R., 1907, p. 266), the
Irish Labour party, led by Mr. Larkin, and entirely separate from the
Labour party in Great Britain, some of the original promoters of the
Irish Volunteer movement (A.R., 1913, p. 267), and other small groups.
These bodies published papers, among them _Irish Freedom_, _Sinn Fein_,
the _Irish Volunteer_, and the _Irish Worker_, distributed them and
quantities of leaflets gratuitously, posted up seditious placards,
sent out emissaries to discourage recruiting, and started or spread a
rumour that the Government intended to institute compulsory military
service, which caused a considerable emigration of able-bodied men to
America in the autumn from certain areas in the West. They attempted
a counter-demonstration to the Premier's meeting in Dublin (p. 215);
and Sir Roger Casement, an Antrim man and a Liberal Home Ruler, who
had honourably served Great Britain as a Consul and had exposed
the atrocities on the Putumayo (A.R., 1912, p. 489; 1913, p. 493),
was reported in November to have gone to Berlin _via_ the United
States, and to have obtained satisfactory assurances from the German
Government, particularly with regard to the conduct that might be
expected from a German invading force in Ireland. A prominent Irish
American even stated that the Kaiser had promised Sir Roger that he
would free Ireland if Germany were victorious. Sir Roger had previously
tried to dissuade Irishmen from enlisting in the British Army. It
was charitably suggested that, if these reports were true, his
mental balance had suffered from his arduous and perilous work on the
Putumayo. The extremists generally argued that the war was England's
affair, that Ireland should be neutral, and that its Nationalists
should co-operate with those of India and Egypt to exact favourable
terms for themselves from Great Britain after her defeat, and join the
Irish Volunteers against the day of reckoning.
It was suspected that this propaganda was supported by German money
through Irish-American channels, and its real effect was probably
not great. In parts of Ireland the "Sinn Feiners" had to retire from
the Volunteer corps; many of the rural labourers who enlisted were
found to be physically unfit, and it was stated that the maintenance
of the Volunteers was hampered through the enlistment of their drill
instructors, and that enlistment was further discouraged by the
refusal of the War Office to sanction the presentation of Colours to
Irish regiments or to encourage the formation of an Irish Brigade.
The Government for some months ignored the seditious papers, taking
the view that suppression would only advertise their efforts; but at
the end of November their publishers were warned, with satisfactory
results. The Labour party, however, held a street demonstration of
protest in Dublin (Dec. 6) which only numbered about 600. It was
overlooked by a body of the "citizen army" equipped with rifles, and
stationed in "Liberty Hall," Mr. Larkin's headquarters; and it was
stated that these would have been used against police interference.
But the Government wisely took no notice. Mr. Larkin himself was in
the United States collecting arms and money for his followers; and
Professor Kuno Meyer, the eminent Keltic scholar, who had lived much in
Wales and Ireland, and whose former friendships with Keltic students in
the United Kingdom were repudiated demonstratively on both sides after
the outbreak of war, stated in an interview that an Irish (probably
Irish-American) regiment was being formed in Germany. But the whole of
this seditious movement was probably of slight significance.
It was suggested that Sir Roger Casement's attitude might partly be
due to disappointment at the abandonment of the projected call at
Queenstown of the Hamburg-American steamers from Hamburg to Boston,
which had been arranged, partly at his instance, early in the year,
and was alleged to have been discouraged, for political reasons, by
the British Government. More probably the reasons were commercial. The
Cunard calls were definitely abandoned on February 28. In November a
partial resumption was announced, but it was not kept up.
Legislation for Ireland was scanty, and a Land Purchase Bill was
introduced, but withdrawn. A Labourers Act, however, was passed
increasing the amount which could be expended under the Act of 1906,
and an Intermediate Education Act, improving the position of teachers
in the statutory schools and securing them some degree of fixity of
tenure. The statistics of crime showed a considerable decline; but
there were some cases of cattle-driving during the year.