The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-06
DENOUNCE ATTACK
ON LORD KITCHENER
London Papers and Public Up
hold Actions Of British
War Secretary.
SHELL SUPPLY SHORT

tremendous interests concerned, 1t IL al
most impossible not To zee the comic side
TO the tempest that has been aging dur
War Office.
The storm burst Unexpectedly last
Friday. for the majsrlt, OF Britishers
have not yet quite finished a very en-
joyable Whitsun bank holiday.
The Government had to all intents
and purposes fallen. and Asoulth. within
a couple OF days Of SAYING that nothing
OF the kind was needed or contemplated.
was trying TO form a coalition Cabinet.
representative OF all parties. which
should be In fact a national Govern
ment. Lord Fisher. the First Sea Lord.
had handed In his resignation and gone
10 Scotland. Winston Churchill, First
Lord Of the Admiralty. was Just about
bidding farewell 10 the chiefs of the va
rtous Admiralty departments.
Then, on Friday morning. May Il.
there appeared in tho Dolly Mol an
editorial headed The Tragedy Of the
Shells and lord Kitchener's Grave Er-
ror." Beneath these captions there .
peared the attach upon Lord Kitchener
which reached Tine Sun by cable that
same day.
Tho attach was neither more nor less
vigorous than those which from lime TO
time have been made upon Winston
Churchill since the autumn OF last year.
but its reception from the press n tho
public was very different. INA after
noon. and practically every day since.
nearly every pApe IN this country has
been crying shame upon the Dolly xgH.
or. to be more accurate. upon Lord
Northcifne. Indeed. might almost
think that the wish to defend Lord
Kitchener was fAr less powerful than the
eaEerness to attack the proprietor Of the
Daily Mod.
The famous or Infamous editorial In
the Mod may BE- briefly recalled. After
stating that Il was the Moti that sug-
sested Lord Kitchener should take
charge Of the raising Of the new troops.
II goes on Lord Kitchener At once saw
the size Of that part Of his Job. and that
part Of the work wal done a. we'll as
any one could do ~" After raising an
objection 20 Lord Kitchener's use Of his
own name instead Of the Kings in con
nection with these armies, and some Of
the Advertising methods employed by
Kitchener. the Mau launches It's chief
charge m the words. Lord Kitchener
has starved the army in France OF high
explosive shells"
"His Record Not BriIIis nt."
referring then to the mention In a
Liberal Newspaper Of 1.-THE quarrel be-
tween Lord Kitchener and Sir John
French the Mad, while admitting Kit
chener TO be - worry hne gatherer OF
men," says: His record in the South
African war a. q fghting general. apart
from his excellent organizing work as
chief Of the Stan. was not brilliant. The
-Gt-.. ~ -A D~1A A-nrAaaA
as to his handling OF troops at Paarde-
berg In we'll known. and we have never
net n soldier who held any other opin-
ION"
The last protest against Kitchener
made In the article IL n strong obJec-
ton to his most recent appeal for $780,
600 more men. rhe age limit being ex-
: tended to a and the height limit being
lowered by ono inch. 1T Is no testi-
mony to Lord Kitchener's organizing
ability says the Mdl. that this gross
u%nfairness should continue. Rather Is
il an indication that his life In India
and Egypt has made him unacQuainted
with British conditions"
As has already been said. this article
brought down upon Lord Northcl!ne the
most terrific pounding that any n In
modern times has received In the Bit
ish press. The Daily Mail was burned
~ oat 80 h", 49,
Stock Exchange. members OF the Baltic
decla red they would never buy another
copy of Lord NOrthclife's papers. and
on the following Sunday the attack upon
Lord Kitchener was condemned even In
some of the churches.
on tn. same day. Nav ~. that tn
Mails article appeared the Daily
chroMclc. a strong Government organ
said
The lamentable trouble about the
high explosives-thelr inadequscy to the
needs OF our gallant army in France and
Flanders-has arisen from tho fact that
the labors OF the War ONCE were too
heavy even for a Colossus to support.
Lord Kitchener's neglect to inform the
Cabinet OF the facts relating to the de-
nciency OF high explosives and his omis-
sion 10 communicate to II Sir John
French's appeals on this subject are
doubtless due as much to overpressure
as to unfamiiiartty with the workings OF
our Cabinet system. The results have
becn disastrous politically and otherwise.
Politically the disclosure az TO tho
shortage OF high explosives had enor-
nous consequences. II began the Cab'-
net crisis which Lord Fishers resigna-
tion was TO accentuate'
On the previous day the Manchester
Guardian, q Liberal paper and n OF
the sanest and best Informed newspa-
pers in tho world, said
Lord Kitchener has done magnificent
work In tho levying Of h new army
which goes by his name; he has not
lone equally good work In the not less
but even more vital work of arming and
eauippinE It. The present position of the
country In the matter Of the supply OF
arms, and, above all. of explosives after
ten months of war II not merely unsatis-
factory, II is deplorable, With our vast