Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-05-10

bNSiiSSS- icy WtIc NoiSNHhtiN oAcNos
sing the question of figures because Gen
eral Maurice was an authority as di-
rector of military operations.
The premier in explaining the extern
sion of the British front said the French
defence had to be assisted and IL was
agreed to leave the time and the ex-
tension TO the commandments. Az
no time had the cabinet swerved an iota
from the principle laid down by or
William Robertson, then chei-oi-staii'
| There was an actual notification to the
| French authorities that the question
| could not be discussed In the absence
| of Field Marshal Hang.
| The premier declared such controVer-
| sizes rs the present one were dlstract'he
and paralyzing. y,
| Il beg that they may come TO an eno'
| h eadded National unity and the army
are threatened The Germans are pre-
pairing the biggest blow OF the war, and
| beg and implore that there shaii De
| an end to this snlplng.
| SARCASTIC ABOUT MAURICE.
Tho ,ro,nier discussing General Maur-
| ;ce,s faction. said he had ascertained
that the general had never made rep
resentations TO the chief of stall on the
subject
Yet" the premier continued sar-
castically, thus is so important that
n select committee must be set up to
inuure into it; so important AS TO lts-
tify General Maurice tramplng on the
kings regulations and setting up an
example of indisciplInc to the whole
army.
Both he and Bonar Law were anxious
for an examination of their statements
bv perfectly impartial tribunal, he
said There was mass OF contdenual
documents involved, and ne maintained
that a select commute tee was not the best
tribunal to investigate facts when pas
sIons were aroused The House ct Com
mons long ago came 10 similar decision
when such questions as disputed cleo
tions were involved. Former Premier
Asouith has deprecated a select commit
tee to investigate Mesopotamla for rea-
sons which the premier considered right.
With the reference TO strength of the
army, the premier said:
There Is absolutely no doubt that
there was very considerable addition
10 the manpower of the army at the
beginning of 1915, rs compared with
the manpowcr at the beginning OF 1917
in France There was a great increase
in the manpower Of the army through
out the world in 1918, as compared
with 1917. But the increase III France
was greater than the average through
out the whole area.
NoN-COMBATANT FIGHTERS, TOO.
II do not know whether General
Maurice had that in mind, when he
talked about fighting strength, lie must
draw 4 distinction between the com
blatant and the non-combatant Let me
say NJ once that | do not accept that
distinction when he talks about lighting
strength. as 10 who are comhatants and
Who are non-combatants Ones OF ON
/ Oh!l Are those men who stopped the
| advance Of the Germans at Amnens the
| other dav con tants9 They are not, Il
! YOU begin to make distinctions
Are the men who are under nm
/ every dav making roads and tranways
and RAILWAYS. who suffer severe casual
ties combatantS or n-cOmhatantS'
Does anyone mean 70 tell me that they
are not part of the fighting strength
| III the army
Reading from document which he
sand came from General Alaurces de-
partment nine DAYS after the premier 5
speech. the sentence. From the state
/ nlent included il Will ne seen that the
/ comb4tant strength Of the British army
was greater on the first Of January,
/ 1918. than on the first Of January,
/ 1917. the premier continued:
i i have been charged with mlslead-
! ing the public and leaving the public
/ To believe that Al the time OF the attack
! the allied position on the western front
/ was that We had slight superiority in
infantry, q superiority III cavalry and
4 superloritv in artillery. The whole Of
. / No., +,,y,,r..- ,4-ara l.sa4 m :
I made Ia General Maurice.
With reference To the extension Of
/ the British front, after declaring that
| General Maurice, although st Yer
sailles. was not in the council chamber
Tie premier SAID
EXTEN DED LINZ TO AID FRFNCH.
There was not single ward taken
over Is the result OF the Versailles coun-
Ill. Although General Maurice did not
sax so, the real point was. II was asked
/ IN a question by Mir Lambert whether
this portion OF the line had not been
taken over by the war cabinet against
the objection Of Field Marshal Haig
| and General Robertson There was not
| q word OF truth IN IT, OF course, Field
Marshal Haig was not ANXIOUS TO ex-
/ tend his line, nor was the War Cabinet
The pressure from the French govern
mert and the French army was enor-
! nous What was done was not done IN
response TO pressure from the war cab
! met
Il am not suggesting for q moment
that our French allies were acting I'm
falrlv There was considerable terment
In France last year Oh the subject OF
the length Of the line held by the french
army. The French losses had been enor-
nous and they had sustained the great
strain of the lighting for three years
There was a larger proportion Of
French manhood put into thesllne than
In any other belhgerent country They
held q front OF 326 miles, We held 100
But the Germans were massed much
more densclv against our lue, and our
lines were much more Vulnerable The
French were pressing Us To extend our
line Iii order that they might WIthdra"
men from the army for purposes Of
agriculture Their agricultural output
tad fallen enormously and they found
it essential that they should withdraw
part Of their men for the purpose Of
/ c1ltivating their soil
The chief Of the French staff, and
General Robertson and the cabinet felt
! that il Was inevitable that during the
winter months there should be some eA-
tension. and they acknowledged that
sonnet hing had to be done 70 meet the
+ French demands
CALLS TIL PROPOSALS SOUND.
! ] he principles laid down by General