Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1915-05-19
BRITISH FORM
ANEW CABINET
IN WAR CRISIS
Premier Asquith Makes An
nouncement That Recon-
struction Is Planned.
PREMIER AND GREY
WILL NOT STEP OUT
Asquith Makes Expected An
nouncement That Ministry
Will Be Reconstructed.
BY tbe'Unlted Press.

by the United Press.
LONDON, May 19.-Premier As
quith, in the House of Commons this
afternoon, announced that a recon
struction of the ministry on a broader
political basis is under consideration"
This announcement from the prime
minister was regarded as official con-
tirmation of the report that a coali-
ton cabinet is to replace the present
Liberal ministry.
The ministerial crisis is the out
growth of dissatisfaction with the
progress of the war and constant
friction among government heads.
The new ministry, it is re-
ported, will include at least five new
members.
Resignation of Lord Fisher, first sea
lord, because of a clash with Winston
Churchill, first lord of the admiralty,
precipitated the crisis. Today 1t was
considered certain that Churchill VIII
resign, and 1t was reported on good
authority that eX-Premier Arthur J.
Balfour was slated to become first
lord of the admiralty in the new cab
met.
Reports had it that Bonar Law,
leader of the opposition; Lord Derby,
+. s. Smith and Austen Chamberlain
were to be given seats in the new
coalition cabinet. Viscount Haldane,
Augustine Blrrell, Lewis Harcourt
and Earl Beauchamp were said to be
slated for retirement. The new min
istry, 1t was reported in official circles,
was to include strong Unionist and
Labor leaders who would bring to the
government the popularity it has
lacked during the trying days of the
war.
Nothing has been definitely ar
ranged as yet" the premier said, but
in order to avoid any possible mis-
apprehension, I wish to make clear
here and now three things:
First, any changes viii not affect
the position of the prime minister or
of the foreign secretary; second,
there will be no change of any kind
in the policy of the country as re-
CARDS the continued prosecution of
the war with, all possible energy and
by means OF every available resource.
and third and last, and OF great inn
portance to the honorable friends be-
| hind me, and have no doubt to the
opposition, is this.
l.--"A&y reeo1Afruetians,a the cabinet
that may be made viii be for the
purposes OF the war alone, and is
not to be taken in any quarter or
for any reason as indicating anything
in the nature of surrender or a
compromise on the part of any per-
son, or body of persons, of their
several political ideals.
This is as far as | can go. Moth
ing definite yet has taken place, but
If any arrangement is made the
House will have the fullest oppor-
tunity of expressing its views"
Premier Asquith spoke briefly at
the Guild Hall meeting before going
to Commons. In eulogizing the vari-
Gus colonial contingents who came
to the support of England he declared
that 1.-THE Canadians have won for
themselves in France an everlasting
name"
There is no part of the empire
that would not suffer annihilation
rather than become subject to an
other sovereignty" said Asquith in
his Guild Hall speech. 1.-THE colonies
rallied to the standards to defeat the
Vaccinations of the man who vio-
lated all the rights Of mankind. That
man was brought down so far to the
depths of infamy that he mobilized
against himself all the powers and
influences back of the free spirit of
free men"
Bonar Law expressed the hope that
"at the end Of the greatest and
bloodiest and the most savage war In
history, the world might see in the
parliament of the empire, every party
in its proper proportion sharing the
duties and the honor OF bringing the
conflict to a successful termination +"
This declaration was wildly cheered,
Fisher Started Rupture.
Lord Fishers resignation opened the
way for the most startling political
revolution England has seen in many
decades. Though reports of friction
among administrative heads have
grown more frequent and the govern
ment has been the object of severe
criticism for several weeks, 1t was
understood q truce was to be estab-
lished until the end of the war at
least.
]. l.. Garyin. editor of the Pail Mall
Gazette and the Observer, has writ
ten complete and impartial story OF
the cabinet crisis, and he goes into
the cause for the rupture in The fol-
lowing language:
1--WE have to reveal the main facts
about an overturn as sudden and ex-
traordinary as any in the whole his
L.
thunderbolt has fallen upon the face
of politics and changed everything.
1--WE cannot call II a bolt from the
blue (the armament over Downing
street and Whitehall was gray and
lowering enough), but q meteorite out
of the clear air could not have been
more amazing.
THE crisis at the admiralty has in
volved the whole, ministry and the
opposition. Lord Fisher has resigned.
and he has not only made impossible
Mr.. ChurchilPs retention of his pres
ent post, but has also brought down
the government.
Cabinet Cases to Exist.
"The cabinet, as it stood before.
has practically ceased TO exist You
can no more put 1t back than restore
Humpty Dumpty.
"a national ministry, such as we
have urged for months and foreseen
to be inevitable, is about to be formed
for that purpose. Active negotiations
are already afoot and we believe the
chief opposition leaders have already
agreed to enter the government.
There are difficulties, but they may
be and must be overcome, and they
must be overcome quickly. We can
have no interregnum at time like
this.
I'VE must stand together as a ma
ton or lose the war. BY comparison
with that everything sinks into the
merest insignificance.
I'VE must have an absolutely thor
ough reconstruction, which will end
once for all the doubt. muddle and