The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-11
Will Ask Parliament for SS,310,0NO, O,0G0 Additional
 Credit Today
LARGE ADVANCES
 MADE TO HER ALLIES
War Office Exerting Energies Toward More Effective Cd-ordination of Prosecution of War-People
 Must EconOmsze

| London, November 1o.-Premier Asquith was to have asked the House of Com mons today for a vote of credit of e4oo oOo,O0o ts2,coo,ooo 0O0) but some unexpected development prevented him from taking | this action. which was postponed until tomorrow. The premier, however. made his expected statement in regard to tho | financial situation and it pressed upon the nation the necessity of careful hus- banding of it's resources
 l Including the new vote of credit 10 be l asked tomorrow. the premier pointed out | the total amount allotted for war .pur- poses will be G1, ,662 00o, GOO (ss, BIO, ssOo>
 He presented figures showing tho gov ] ernment had sufficient sum left over from the previous vote to finance the war to the third week of November. | The approximate daily cost of the wav between September 12 and November was given by MT Asquith as e4.s5o.ooo It rose
 to this figure from G2 100000 in the earlier part of the financial year
 | Loans advanced by Great Britain to
 her allies and dominions between April | D, amounted to e92.000000
 l In the same period e23, ,OOo 900 was ex- pended for food supplies and miscella- l neous items
 Increasing Expenditures l The main causes of increase in the l cost of the war, Mir. Asquith continued, 1 were the great expenditures for muni- 1 tions and the advances to Great Britains 1 allies and domnions. He could hold out no hope of an immediate decrease in those two items
 On the contrary they were likely to in-
 crease. MT. Asquith said there was no reason to believe expenditures during the next two months would exceed E500 d0o daily, so that the new vote of credit
 might be expected to last to the middle
 of February,
 \ Returning to the question of public economy the premier said the matter had
 engaged the attention of the government and special cabinet committee for sev-
 eral months. As a result there had been ! much closer investigation of army con
 tract prices and there has been revision of the scale Of the army rations.
 | Regarding contracts said the premier | arrangements had been made between tho | | against one another either in the homo | market or in foreign markets and thus | keep down prices. Where there has been reasonable ground to suspect that ex- l cessive profits were being earned by con ! tractors, prices had been reduced to a
 reasonable level This was only begin
 ming and there was still much to be done but he hoped that these steps would lead | to substantial economy without prejudice ing the effective prosecution of the war
 Coordination of Forces Sought The war office Premier Asquith con tnued, already had taken steps to cure a more effective and co-ordinated prosecution of the war on the part of the allied powers by strengthening the British general staff and establishing
 more intimate intercommuncation--n
 sporadic but normal and habitual-be- | tween the military and naval advisers of
 all the allied powers His own views had been much strengthened by what he had seen during his two visits to the front as to the importance Of interchang- ing officers between the war office and the army in the field so that all might experience trench fighting and all the novel operations this war had introduced. Sir Archibald James Murray, head of tho general staff. was about to appoint as his assistant General Mitchell, and the premier said he was satisfied that the
 staff now a the war office which was far
 more numerous than the public was
 aware. was composed of very able, dis
 tinguished officers, no less than 2S of
 whom had had actual experience in tre
 present war,
 With regard to the relations between the British staff and those of the allied powers it would be great mistake. the ! premier said, to suppose that they had
 been living in watertght compartments ! without communicating with one another
 There was British military attache at , French headquarters and distinguished , French officer in attendance at the war office in London. while arrangements now had beer made for more intimate CO., operation and for the interchange of views , for common development of plans for all , the military operations in the different
 theatres of war distinguished French | staff officer. the premier stated. will be
 in daily communication with the general
 staff at the British war office and Great
 Britain is sending to France officers en- | trusted with like mission.
 French and English Premiers to Confer
 'It Is more than possible. added the
 premier that this organization may ep Istil further developed.
 q am betraying no secret, continued the premier, when I say that the dis |, tingushed man who now holds the post , of prime minister to France is anxious . and 1 am as anxious he is-that we
 should develop the system of informal oc-
 casional conferences which have taken place in the last few months with great advantage, into something more definite land better organized. Neither he nor |
 is without hope that before long We shall l have something in the nature of a war council on which shall sit ministers of the crown and ministers of the republic. | which will with the expert advice of their united general staffs. control and direct our eonjoint military and naval opera tions .
 I do not place any limit on he extent l to which this cooperation will be carried.
 and we shall be only too delighted if { Russia and Ita'y join us for the purpose
 | I have indicated. With broad-based, we'll conceived and sympathetically worked system of that kind we have Ievery confidence that the operations of f the war will be still more efficiently con
 dueted and co-ordinated in the future
 than in the past. and that the fine spirit
 and resources of the allies will bring the war to triumphant conclusion.s
 The adjournmens or the house having
 been moved to enable the debate to take place. Laming w. Evans, unionist mefn- U tCoutinued on Pare Tenl