New Britain herald., 1915-12-22
ONE MILLION MEN FOR BRITISH ARMY
Increase Granted by House of Con- mons After All Night Debate
CHANGES IN HIGHERCOMMAND

More to Swing Greece and Rumania to Their Side in Balkan Opera. tions.
 London, Dec. 22, 11:59 a. m.-After an all-night debate the house of com ! mons early today granted an increase of one million men in the British army, bringing up it's strength on paper to four millions. With the in ] crease come changes in the higher command, Lieutenant General Rob- ertson, chief of the general staff, hav- ing been recalled from France to be- come chief of the imperial staff in London in place of Lieutenant Gen. eral Murray, who is about to receive an important command These changes are accepted here as indicating closer cooperation among the Allies in the conduct of military operations on the western front.
 The TeutoniC powers are represent ed as taking full advantage of the moral effect produced by the with drawal of British forces from Gall1- poll peninsula and to be attempting once more to swing Greece and Ru- mania to their side in the Balkan op- erations. If the news of the bom- bardment of Varna is correct Russia is losing no time in an attempt to forestall these efforts. From several sources, all unofficial, London has heard of the bombardment of the Bull garian port Various despatches state that the Russian warships are ac- companied by fleet of transports which, according to the morning pa pers already has landed sufficient force to hold the town.
 Will Not Affect Greece.
 While the Greek elections have given a large majority to former Pre- mier Gounaris, a powerful member of the present cabinet who is not over friendly to the entente powers, 1t is not believed here the change will have much of an affect on the attitude or Greece, which is now much more ag1- tated by the possibility that Bulgar- ians will cross the frontier than bH the formation of new government.
 Along the western line, according to British official reports, the Ger mans suffered heavy losses While ex- posing their forces in an attempt to occupy craters which their mines had opened along the front near Armen-
 
 places are hampered greatly by bad weather. but a considerable portion of the German works on Hartmanns- Weilerkopf has been carried.
 Russians Occupy Kun.
 The Russians are reported to have occupied Kum, which indicates they are making an important advance in- to the interior of Persia.
 Debate Until 5:3O A. NJ.
 London, Dec. 5:45 a. m.-The de- bate in the house of commons on the estimate of the gov ernment providing for the raising of one million extra men for the army continued until 5:30 o'clock this morning, at which hour the vote for the additional men was agreed to and the house adjourned.
 The debate was carried on mostly by the opponents of conscription and those members who have been con- spicuous for criticising the govern ment on the conduct of the war. Out of the small number of members present to preserve a quorum many were asleep before four o'clock, the speeches being punctuated by loud snoring. Sir Arthur Markham com l plained humorously of these inter- ! ruptions asking at one point whether i a nationalist member was snoring at i him.
 Sir Henry Dalziel in the course of l a. speech declared that it had been 1 throughout the debate i that there had been an unnecessary i wastage of the lives of the men by ] blunders made at headquarters.
 Murray Replaces Monro.
 London, Dec. 22, 5 p. m.-Lieuten- ant General Sir Archibald Murray has been appointed to succeed Sir Charles Monro, as British commander at the says an official statement issued this afternoon.
 Sir Charles Monro has been ap- pointed in command of the first Brit sh army in France, in succession to Sir Douglas Haig.