New Britain herald., 1915-02-04
CLAIM GERMANS TRIED l TO TORPEDO ASTUR|AS
British Admiralty Secretary Relates
 Hospital Ship IEGidtat.

London. Feb. ,, (3:O7 ?. M)I Thomas l. MacNamara, parliament ary secretary of the admiralty. .sn nounccd in the house of commonsy today that the admiralty had received1 telegram on the subject Of the re ported German attempt to torpedo d the British hospital ship Asturias as announced by the French ministry of marine yesterday. The secretaryy said he hopcd to be able to impart ! some information to the house before adjournment tonight
 MT. McNamara told the house ofI commons that the telegram receiveI by the admiralty stated that a sub marine. with it's coming tower show ing fired torpedo at the Asturia af P. M. on February 1. but that the torpedo missed its mark.
 Asturias Painted White.
 The Asturias he said, was paintedy white. with a green band and red crosses. which were illuminated a provided for in the regulationS adopted at The Hague. Notificatie also was sent to the belligerents tha, the Asturias was to be used as a hos. pitaI ship, in accordance with the agreement adopted at The Hague iny 1907. under which hospital ships thug designated were to be immune fronl] attack or capture during the course1 of hostilities.
 Ut is important to know said thel secretary. that the first name fOn0 the list of those who expressed ad- herence to thIs convention was that of the German emperor"
 The neutral powers, he added, would be notified of the fact but said he. The civilized world needs : no representation of ours to enhance it's sense of horror at this wanton outrage" t"
 Only Government Measures.
 Premier Asquith presented a reso- lution in the house of commons to- day to devote the present session en. tirely to government measures.
 There is no precedent for this resolution" said the premier, "bpt all our energies as a nation are con centrated on the war and every in terest must be subordinated to this over-mastering purpose. According ly the government purposes to take away the opportunity for private members to introduce bills, and will confine it's legislative proposals 4o measures for the prosecution of the war"
 A. Bonar Law, speaking for the op- position, agreed to the resolution. He said that the opposition intended to treat the present sitting of the house as a war session. as had been done in Canada and France.
 One National Purpose.
 In support of his resolution, Pre- mier Asquth said further:
 "So long as war conditions prevail and until they are determined-I hope and trust that at no distant date they will be determined in our favor--we must postpone discussion of the plural ( voting bill and all domestic legisla- tion, in subordination to the one na-I tional purpose
 The house adopted the resolution
 Baron Lucas, replying for the goN-. . ornment to question concerning aliens enemies, said that. exclusive of pris- oners of war, 1S,259 aliens, all males, had been interned in the United Kingdom. Of these 1916 were re- leased subsequently,. with the consent of the war office after their records had been investigated by the police.
 Requirements Safcguardcd.
 Replying in the house of commons to Sir John D. Rees, unionist mem-~" Der for Notts. who urged that cotton should be declared contraband of war. Harold J. Tenant parliament tary under secretary of war, said the requirements of Great Britain had been adequately safeguardcd so far as the war office could sec at preSent { The authorities, according to NIT. Tcnnant, believed that Germany had a sufficient supply of cotton for her war requirements and that therefore to place tho staple in the list of contra bands was not necessary from tho beIligerent point of view. Mr. Tennant added that other intercsts>l were involved which it would not be desirable to touch at present.