The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-28
BITTER, F SILENT,
 FIGHT GO|NGON IN
 BRITISH CABINET
War Office Yielding to New Powers of Lloyd-G George With III Grace-Silver
 Bullets Are Lacking

London, August 1S.-(Special) )-There is every evidence of rare fight going on behind the scenes among the men that matter in England. Little of it, of course, has been allowed to leak out and every being made by those concerned to keep it from the public and to give the inn presslon that all is well.
 So far as one can judge, the struggle is now being waged between Lloyd George and his advisers in the munitions department, and the war office. The off cials of the latter department, long used to absolute authority, are yielding to the new powers of LloydGeorge with no easy grace. The munitions minister threatened in Parliament to tell the coun- try that he was being unduly hampered if any further obstacles were placed in his way and unless the war office yields quickly there is sure to be a certain amount of washing of soiled linen in public.
 Lord Haldanes now famous "defense" at the National Library club, in which he defended the war office authorities against the charges of neglect in the matter of shells was an important tactical move in the fight. The prime minister was to have been present at the meeting but at the last moment, hearing of the na- ture of Haldane's proposed speech, he wrote to say that he was too busy. Now Lloyd-George comes out with statement that there is more to be told than Hal dane has revealed that what the former lord chancellor did say was misleading and inaccurate and again makes use of a. thinly yelled threat to tell all.
 Ae oF f,n ord H,I6 6ov7 Ia or Asquith. or Lloyd-George could only be induced to tell all'' large section of the English public would be only too pleased. The public is not, as Lord Hal dane says, looking for a scapegoat, but 1t Is very anxious to discover the man or men responsible for the muddle and the mess of the past few months But munitions are not the only things that are troubling the British public. The "silver bullets which LloydGeorge de- clared are to win the war are giving them many sleepless hourx People are wondering why a man like Reginald Me- Kenna is put in charge of the exchequer when there, are available any number of | famous financers who know more about | finance than a hundred ex-home secre- taries. The failure of the first war loan l to maintain it's selling value and the fact | that it can. now be bought at a consid- | erable sum less than the figures at which | it was issued has had bad effect upon I the investing public, who put their money
 into it. Also. the fact that one can,
 by buying a block of the old loan and
 converting. purchase the new loan below par before it is allotted. is not the best
 comment upon the confidence of the gov
 ernment in It's bonds.
 | It Is significant. too, that there has been much talk about floating a part of the loan abroad, especially in the United | States This means. if 1t means anything | that the investing public in this country | is not patriotic enough to support the | government to the extent necessary to 1 finance the war. Indeed, there has been too much emphasis all through upon the financial advantage to investors in the Thew loan rather than upon the obvious duty of every man with available none, to support the government to his last penny.