The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1916-01-05
having tried to thwart Lord Kitchen.

er in India.
"This is view widely held, but I
do not think it is by any manner of
means the correct view. In fact,
those Englishmen who know their
India best generally, / find, believe
that Lord Curzon's administration of
the vice-royalty was an extremely
successful one, particularly when it is
remembered how young he was when,
with his beautiful American wife, ne
went to the gorgeous east. His power
of organization was shown to be
great, his zeal was untiring, and his
industry knew no bounds.
eff he should became premier, it
has been said. he would take none Of
the 'week-ends' which are habitual
with the present prime minister and
which nobody grudges him, but
which, according to gossip. have on
occasions seriously delayed the trans
action of public business of prime
importance. Knowing Mr.. Asquith,
l do not suggest that there can be
any truth in the latter statement,
but it is significant that such things
are said.
But to revert for moment to
Lord Curzon and Lord Kitchener.
There is curious similarity between
the circumstances which led up to
Curzon's departure from India and
those which preceded Lord Kitchen
er's recent visit to the near east. The
India office at the time Of the diff
ferences between Curzon and Kitch-
ener sided with the former.
Kitchener, however, stated that
he would resign unless his policy was
acquiesced in; and the government
of that day had as great a fear OF
Lord Kitchener's popularity and the
consequences Of a public rupture as
the present government is understood
to entertain. It is the secret de
Polichinelle in the inner circles of
London life that in several matters
the cabinet and Lord Kitchener have
been at variance.
''In fact, report has it that at times
Kitchener has been in the position Of
the thirteenth juryman of the story.
On these occasions he has simply said
We'll, if you don't agree with me,
I'll resign and his colleagues have
accepted the ultimatum with the best
grace possible. do not mean to say
that Mr.. Asquith and his colleagues
do not appreciate all that Lord
Kitchener has accomplished, by the
magic Of his name.
''There came a time, however,
when they arrived at the conclusion
that his lordship could be more use
fully employed elsewhere, instead Of
at the war office. In fact, there was
one post for which he was specially
qualified, which nobody could fill bet
ter than he. Egypt and the Suez
canal are the wasp-waist Of the Brit
ish empire.
cit might almost be said that a
rupture of communications there
would jeopardize the life of the en-
pire. To Egypt, then, it was arrang-
ed Kitchener should go, with, in case
the defense Of that protectorate was
not enough to absorb all his energies,
the additional charge of all the Brit
ish forces in both the Near and Far
East-surely glorious enough com
mand for any soldiers ambition. SO
it was arranged Lord Kitchener
should make his visit of inspection to
Egypt, Gallipoli, and the Balkans.
"Along with Mr.. Asquith, the
honor of bearing the brunt Of the at
tacks which are being made On the
cabinet is shared by Sir Edward
Grey. For the moment the point on
which public attention is chiefly cen
tired is the arrangement entered into
by tho foreign office with two asso-
Citations of Danish merchants. The
exact character Of the arrangement is
held secret, Lord Robert Cecil having
refused many pointed demands for its
publication.
"It is suggested that the reason for
secrecy is to be found in the circum-
stance that the foreign office has al
lowed it's consideration for the in
terests of neutrals to interfere with
the blockade of Germany. 1t is to be
noticed that the main attacks upon
the foreign office on this point are
delivered by men who are known to
be in close touch with the admiralty.
You will, however, have read all the
details in the cablegrams, and be
sides, the matter is probably not so
serious as some Of the plumbers,
alleged against the foreign office.
Sir Edward Grey's signature OF
the Declaration of London is held up
against him as "a deliberate attempt
to handicap the British navy A well
known writer had an article in yes
terday's Sunday Times in which he
said: Bit by bit, under the pressure
of war, this absurdity (the Declara-
ton of London) has been abandoned,
and few days ago Lord Lansdowne
bluntly said that the declaration was
dead. Yet it is clear that Sir Edward
Grey and the foreign office are still!
hankering for the resuscitatlon OF
this mischievous corpse and are still
willing to sell England's power of in
juring her enemies in return for some
vague promise which would consti-
tute another scrap of international
paper.
''It must never be FORGOTTEN that
at the beginning Of the war the for
eign office refused to make cotton
contraband, although everybody knew
that cotton was an essential element
in the manufacture of propulsive
powder. 1t took nine months Of war
and a vigorous press agitation to
compel tho government to reverse
this blunder. But the main energies
of Downing Street seem still to be
devoted to creating loopholes for the
trade of our enemies
Even more serious still are the
charges of blundering alleged against
the foreign office in regard to the
Balkan situation. King Constantine
has been held up to opprobrium in
the British press. I have been as
sured by a French minister that on
the contrary the Greek monarch has
been perfectly loyal in all his deal
ings with the Allies, and that, on an
impartial survey, when all the cir
cumstances arc made known, it will
be found that his reluctance to let
mis- country participate in the war,
under the conditions in whi.h partici-
patton was presented to him, was alb
solutely iustifable. King Constan-
tine is 2 soldier, and appreciated the
military situation with a clearness