The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-02-07
IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
RI. Hon. Herbert Asauith Defends
the Course cf the Opposition.

! W." course 81 the pppoSii"h.
| LONDON. Feb. 6.-In the House of Com
mons today Mr.. A. J. Balfour. the Gov
errment leader. said that international law
yers universally regarded foodstuffs in
tended for the use OF an enemy in the
| field as contraband of war.
Right Hon. Herbert Asquth. Liberal
Member for Fife. East. and Home Sec
rotary in Lord Rosebery's Cabinet. de-
| Tended the present course of the opposition.
! He declared that the members of the Gov
eminent up to this time had been the sole
critics of the policy OF the Cabinet and the
| action OF the British generals. To sup
/ port this contention he cited the speeches
of Mr.. Chamberlain. at Leicester. and Mr..
! Balfour. at Manchester.
| After DENYING that this or any war was
I inevitable. Mr. Asquith advanced two prop
ositions; first. that the Government did not
intend and did not desire war. which ex-
planned the military unpreDaredness. and,
second. that President Kruger could have
avoided war by accepting the proposals
| made to him in September which the Gov
eminent and politicians OF every shade or
| opinion. urged. He refused and then made
impossible demands. which were intended
to be refused. He then invaded and an
nexed British territory.
IF | thought" continued Mr. Asquith.
that the negotiations were cloak for
annexation. or that the Government was
the conscious or unconscious tool OF specu
lators would not vote shilling to prose-
cute the war
While asserting that the war had been
forced on Great Britain. and saying that
she could fight with clean hands and
clear conscience, Mr.. Asquith blamed the
I method of the negotiations. instancing the
want of patience in handling Boer sus-
piciousness. and the want of insight and
foresight in the sudden closing OF the Par
liamentary enquiry into the Jameson raid.
He declared that Colonial Secretary Cham
berlan was the cause of the Ladysmith
ENHANCEMENT
After referring to the bravery OF the
troops and the loyalty of the colonies,
Mr.. Asquith defined Imperialism as ex-
pressing. not policy of menace and ag-
gression but an ideal that could be real
lied only by the loyal cooperation of all
the free self governing communities.
Mr.. Asquith said he did not believe that
there was ineradicable antagonism be-
tween the Boer and the Briton. ON the
contrary, he looked forward TO the time
when the Dutch and English would labor
side by side under just and equal laws.
Mr.. Balfour denied the Manchester
Guardians" statement that General Butler
had asked for 40. 900 troops.
Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, for
merly Secretary of State for War, in a
lengthy review and defence of the oppo-
stiOn's attitude, declared that the minis
tiers. anyhow. could not pose as conquer
ors. Their diplomacy had failed and their
military operations had not succeeded.
They had failed to defend their con-
duct in not dsassociating themselves
from connection with the Jameson
raid. He refused TO believe in the
existence Of the alleged Dutch con-
spiracy, of which there was not single
proof He supported the amendment be-
cause il condemned past errors and fail
ures. which, If renewed after the war.
would inevitably be again fatal to harmony
aud good government in South Africa.
Mr. Balfour closed the debate in behalf
Of the Government. He said he did not re-
gard the oppositon's attack as directed at
the Government or the War Office, but at
the Colonial Secretary. The latter might
well ignore, but the House might well re-
member that it was during Mr.. Chamber
lan's term of office that The empire as
whole had first shown full corporate con-
seriousness OF what 1t was and what its
destinies really. He admitted that
Mr.. Chamberlain wcs not alone responsible
for this. but he might justly boast that it
was during his tenure of Office and in no
small degree through his great admlnistra-
tive abilities that the dramatic moment
had occurred when for the first time in
history every British colony had joined the
mother country in carrying out great i'm
perial object. When all the present petty.
m mi aTn nj hln hurled in
merited oblivion his name would forever
be associated with the great event.
Upon the conclusion of the speeches a
division was taken on Lord Edmund FitZ-
maurices amendment to the address in
reply TO the Queens speech, which practi
cally amounted to vote of censure against
the Government. with the result that the
amendment was defeated by a vote of S52
to 1879