Historic Speech by Premier Lloyd George on the Picardy Battle and Its
Fateful Consequences
_The British Government introduced a bill April 9, 1918, to
raise the military age up to 50, and in special cases to 55, and
to provide for conscription in Ireland. Premier David Lloyd
George, in introducing the measure in the House of Commons,
delivered an important address, in which he reviewed the battle
of Picardy up to that time and gave interesting details of the
conduct of the war in the preceding months. The address opened a
new phase in the world conflict as affected by the posture of
affairs in Great Britain. The full speech was sent by special
cable to The New York Times and is reproduced herewith as a
historic document of the war:_
We have now entered the most critical phase of this terrible war. There
is a lull in the storm, but the hurricane is not over. Doubtless we must
expect more fierce outbreaks, and ere it is finally exhausted there will
be many more. The fate of the empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate
of liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which the
very last of these attacks is resisted and countered.
The Government, therefore, propose to submit to Parliament today certain
recommendations, in order to assist this country and the Allies to
weather the storm. They will involve, I regret, extreme sacrifices on
the part of large classes of the population, and nothing would justify
them but the most extreme necessity and the fact that we are fighting
for all that is essential and most sacred in our national life.
Before I come to the circumstances which led up to our submitting these
proposals to Parliament, I ought to say one word as to why Parliament
was not immediately summoned. Since the battle began the Government have
been engaged almost every hour in concerting with the Allies the
necessary measures to assist the armies to deal with the emergency.
The proposals which we intend submitting to Parliament required very
close and careful examination, and I think there is this advantage in
our meeting today, rather than immediately after the impact of the
German attack, that we shall be considering these proposals under
conditions which will be far removed from any suggestion of panic.