New-York tribune., 1918-03-09

he said. but he could not say what the
plans were for the future.
1t would be a great mistake, the
Chancellor went on, to suppose that
the value Of these operations is purely
political or moral. Great Britain, he
reminded his hearers, is a great East
crn power, and no competent soldier or
civilian has ever said it was possible
for Great Britain to stand out Of the
events in the Eastern sphere of opera
tlons. At the same time no competent
soldier ever doubted that 1t was essen
tial that the Western front should
have sufficient men to insure whatever
result was obtained in the East.
But there was another advantage,
the Chancellor continued, and he then
made the assertion that there was
great discomfort in Turkey, despite the
successes of the Central Powers
against Russia. Then" he added,
until the British Empire was abso
lutely defeated it was obvious we could
not abandon Egypt. Lord Kitchener
estimated that the number of troops
necessary to save Egypt from invasion
was far larger than the total which has
been operating in Palestine and Meso-
potama."
1t was never expected. the Chan
cellor explained. that the Salonica
forces would be solely on the de-
fcnsive. There had been reason to be-
lieve they would play part in an
other way, but the events in Russia
had made that impossible. He init
mated it was not impossible that the
Salonica forces might be attacked, but
predicted that the Central Powers
would pay dearly for every yard they
drove back the Allies. In finishing his
remarks regarding the Salonica sector
the Chancellor said it was not difficult
to justify the Salonica expedition.
German Threat in East
But for the position the Allies are
on the throne of Greece he insisted
and the whole of Greece would be over
run by the Germans, who would be
able to control the Balkans from all
sides, Greek harbors would be at the
disposal of enemy submarines, and it
would be almost impossible to keep up
communications With the East.
The Chancellor spoke of the Rus
sian collapse as a terrible blow to
the Allies, but he asked that it be
looked at for a moment from the Ger
man point OF view. When the war
broke out he continued. Russia, from
the military point of view, was the
strongest enemy Germany had to face,
but now Russia has dropped out, Ger
many is not q step nearer victory.
AS to Russia herself, the Chancellor
finds justification for thinking that
Germany Will not be able to exploit
her. The way Germany is treating her,
he contended, cannot fail to create an
intense feeling of hostility throughout
the Russian Empire, while the victory
of the Central Powers would mean the
absolute loss Of any hope of a free
Russia.
In the debate which followed the
statement of Andrew Bonar Law. Chan
ceilor Of the Exchequcr, in the House
Of Commons yesterday, during which
he outlined the military situation,
Percy Alfred Harris, member from
Leicestershire, accused the government
of placing such hindrances and restrc-
tions on trading as to threaten after
the war to deprive England of her su
prcmacy as the worlds greatest ex
porter. He complained that Lanca
shires staple industries are being d
vertcd to Japan. He suspected. he
said that Japan was using her tom
mage to capture trade and attack Brit
ish markets instead Of helping the
Allies.
Thomas James MacNamara. Financial
Secretary of the Admiralty, replied to
criticisms which were voiced during a
considerable discussion of shipbuild-
ing. He admitted the urgency of the
problem and the necessity for more
men to construct ships. The more
Parliament ventilates this subject, he
said, the better the Admiralty would
be pleased, adding: "lf we and the
Admiralty do not do our share, scrap
u.s." He admitted that to realize fore
casts eve must turn out double the
tonnage in March that we produced in
February.' Asked if it could be done
he replied: "We must do our best