New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
The British Army
. cuugcHILLs ATTACK ON IT LORD MoRLEVs TRIBUTE TO
,Ts LoYALTY-WHAT LORD METHUEN ROBERTS SAY
THE LABOR WEW-WHAT DE MOcRATzING THE ARMY MEANS
copyright 1914. by
I on don April -


~aund themselves last week. Mr..
i.o,rl whose mind moves quickly,
e.ou, the need Of new cry for the
,,,rv in that General Election which,
after how often postponed. must
Nv at last. He was tainted with
hing 10 cover his trail in Ulster, and
..,,bdraw attention from an abortive
y. % food Ulster with troops in the
- of intimidating or provoking the
r.,.s,anters. IL is only fair to him TO
that he thinks much more Of at
= than defence. He did at first
.,,,nose that political capital could be
,oade out Of the Cough incident; that
co,sral Cough and the three colonies
I'M officers who preferred dismissal
= attacking Ulster could De made to
.o,ear as representatives Of a dis
ahodient army. and the Army itself as
aictatjng 10 Parliament. But by Mon
aav OF this week he seems TO have con-
cluded that the c.idence was too strong
FOR him and he declared
INV charge is not directed against
the Army officers
His effort. as Lord Curzon remarked
q, the House Of Lords. was the effort
NJ a volatile and picturesque magma 70
tion" Then he fell back on a charge
against the Cnionist leaders of at
tenpting 10 corrupt and seduce the
Army from its allegiance. Such evil
dence as he alleged was inferential.
The cry against the Army is still Kept
in reserve for election purposes, but it
Is thought more profitable FOR the mo-
ment to accuse Mr.. Bonar Law of de-
launching the officers. believe IL has
not yet been suggested that the pri-
Yates are engaged in conspiracy
against either people or Parliament.
Mr.. Bonar Law dealt easily and even
lightly with Mr.. ChurchilPs attacks.
As for the Army. one of the most emf
nent Of the First Lords colleagues.
Lord Morley, speaking as Leader Of the
Ministerial party in the House Of
Lords, said:
There has been no disobedience Of
orders in connection with the recent
events by any officer or man in Ireland.
The conduct of the troops generally
has been exemplary"
On the whole. therefore, the attempt
against the Army does not seem TO
have been thus far much more prosper
GUS than the attempt against the King,
Of which l gave an account in previ-
Gus letter. on that attempt the Prime
Minister set his foot. 1t remains to he
seen how will deal with the cutlery
against the Army now that he has APP
pointed himself War Minister, and has
therefore become officially, the GUS
todian of the honor of the Army.
But the great officers of the Army
seem TO think they and the Army can
take care of their own honor. 1t was
that conviction which induced Sir John
French and Sir Spencer Ewart to re-
sign when the Cabinet repudiated the
guarantee TO General Cough signed by
the late Minister of War and them
selves. To the pressure put upon those
two officers by the whole Cabinet to
withdraw their resignation they had
but one answer:
I'VE gave our guarantee to General
Cough as soldiers to a soldier. 1t has
been disowned. 1t is only by resigning
that we can vindicate our good faith.
II is a purely personal question and We
are the only judges of what is due to
our own honor"
/. This is not the actual language of
these two officers. Neither Of them has
uttered a word for print. 1t is the
substance and effect If what they say
10 themselves and their friends. 50
long as Sir John French was Chief of
the Imperial staff, so long as Sir Spen-
Ger Ewart was Adjutant General, 50
long as both were members of the
Army Council then mouths were
closed. For similar reasons General
Cough has made no statement and Sir
Arthur Paget has made none. Sir
John French and Sir Spencer Ewart re-
sign not from the Army but from their
Official positions. Sir John French is
sun Field Marshal, and still what a
great American newspaper. The sun
called him. the finest cavalry leader in
Europe. Sir Spencer Ewart is still
Lieutenant General. They are now
nee 10 make statements if they choose
70; but it is not supposed they will.
The doctrine Of publicity has in this
country many strict limitations.
There happens 10 be, however a SOL
o'er or two in the House Of Lords
whose tongues are not tied. One of
mem is Field Marshal Lord Methuen:
avery distinguished officer who has the
confidence both Of the Army and the
public. His voice shook with passion
as he denounced the attempt to array
me country and the House Of Commons
against the Array in order TO gain a
lariy advantage. He said:
We have p = insulted, and Gcd
Knows ! can speak Of that myself, for
"hen was lying wounded on the
e'"und in South Africa ringing cheers
zane at my defeat and my misfortune"
me ringing cheers at British de-
''s' came, as our Irish friends in Amer
:" have so often exultantly told us,
IRON the Irish Nationalist in the
n'use Of Commons. we are not like