The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-27
Lord LansdOwne Makes Ad- mission in House of Lords. Conditions Are Bad in the North
EARL OF LOREBURN ATTACKS METHODS
 OF GOVERNMENT
Marquis of LansdOwne Says Expedition to SalOnilxi Was Made at Instance of VenezelOs

| London. october 2G.--Itepi.mg 10 n
 question by Earl Lorcburn in the
 House of Lords this afternoon as to l the pro9ress of the campaign In the l Balkans. the Marquis of Lansdownc.
 the unionist leader who holds a seat
 In the cabinet without portfolio. said. "i must say with grest regret I nm nfraid we must admit that the progress of tho campaign in northern Servia hns been such ms to render It highly impos- sibie that the servinn army will he able
 to withstand for any great length of l time the attacks to which il k exposed from the Austro- German forces on the
 north aided by the stab In the back
 which servia Is receiving at the hands | of Bulgaria."
 There was no criticism of the conduct or the near eastern campaign but there
 was n general demand when the House of Lords met for information and the suggestion of smaller cabinet to have charge of the war department Lord I-ansdowne in his reply, gave a general review of the SalonilS opera tons. while Earl Curzon Of kedleston. lcrd privy seal. made the statement that Premier Asquith had under con- sideration the matter of smaller execu- tive.
 Lord Lansdowne explained that the
 British forces landed at Saonild which
 numbers about l3,OOO men. Was sent at
 the request of servia and at the in-
 stance of venlzelos for the purpose 0f enabling Greece to funll ner treaty
 ohiigations. to servia A much stronger force had been placed under orders at 1 the same time the Salonild troops were Dispatched but it's ultimate destina- ton would depend on the situation and the report of General Monro, the new British commanders -m-chief, who has reached the Gallipoll poninsnlar. Earl Loreburn had asked whether the dispatch of troops to SalonilSi had been determined upon with the approval of the naval and military advisers, and whether the government could give as- surance that full provision had been made for the communications of this
 force and for it's supply of men and | material. Earl Loreburn said he under stood tho governments desire was that the matter should not be debated at the present time. but that there was d req
 son for asking the question.
 Disappointed at Dardanelles We are disappointed in the Dardan- elles enterprise" the earl continued, and added that he did not know whether l that enterprise had commenced with or without the advice of the naval and military authorities. and one could not l help asking whether this new venture would be repetition The greatest dan l ger by which this country could suffer- l the speaker said, was unpreparedness and indecision
 The Marquis of Lansdowno explained that there were moments when 1t was not in the public interest that questions relating to the war should be freely discussed in Parliament as the effect on both the allies and their enemies had to be considered He declared, how ever, that he could assure Earl Lore
 burn that neither in the present govern ment nor in any government of which
 he had been n member had 1t been the practice or habit of amateur strategists to impose their plans upon the profess sional advisers of the government With the present government. the Mar. quis of Lansdowne continued, it was un- likely that anything of the kind could occur. Earl Kitchener, minister of war, was present at every cabinet meeting and 1t was impossible to suppose that he would allow himself to be deflected from his course by the pressure of his tiNilidH coileds
 Governed by Military Advisers Apart from that the speaker added, the procedure by the committees and the councils had given a far greater oppor- tunity to the military and naval experts to assert themselves and make their views known. The cabinet as whole considered both naval and military and political aspects of the case, go the min isters and their advisers took account of ! particular views were given by the mili- tary and naval advisers the ultimate re- sponslbility for a decision on them must rest on the government. As to the Sa-
 lonlls expedition. the Marquis said: q cannot enter into the apprehensions which possess Earl Loreburn. l can quite
 understand, having before him our com-
 mitment in the western theatre of the
 war. the position in which we find our
 selves the Gallipoli peninsula and our
 interests in Egypt and the other posses sions of the empire. how it Is profoundly
 distasteful to him that the matter should
 be complicated by our entering into new
 entanglements fin the new sphere of the
 war"
 Answers Criticism
 Earl Loreburn, interrupting, said T didn't say that. What l asked was
 if you had naval and military opinion
 to justify you in your decision
 The Marquis of Lansdowne:
 "I quite understand that Earl Lore-
 burn should dislike the idea of what might be described as this further effort on our part at a time when we are
 making so many efforts in different parts of the world.
 Under what circumstances mas Britt ish force been sent to Salonikl? 1 should like to recall the position in the month of September The central powers nna
 made no progress in the western theatre for long time. They, indeed had been successfully attacked and pushed back at several points. On the Russian front
 their advance, overwhelming at first.
 had received serious check. The Ital-
 ians were pressing their offensive and
 In the minor theatres of the war Meso-