The sun., 1919-08-19

ne exclaimed. except quitting the coun-
ry Tor which we fought for four yeara"
Inc occasion for the speech Of the
Premier was the closing of the summer
session of the House Of Commons.
WINE Mr.. Lloyd George SPOKE with his
old time fire, held the attention of the
nouse and frequently gained its APP
pause, he really was speaking on the
defensive, for his Government ia under
remarkable bombardment from a large
majority OF the newspapers OF the King
oom, which are charging It with enor-
nous extravagance under headlines such
as The Road to Ruin"
LORD Robert Cecil, Great Britain's
sponsor for the League of Nations, who
followed Mr.. Lloyd George, spoke feel
ingly regarding the league.
1t would be better to scrap It al
eoBether, said Lord Robert. unless the
government means to work II as a
reality l am not satisfied with the at
utude OF some OF the officials and the
spirit OF the bureaucracy toward It."
Inc iced for assisting Armenia, Lord
ROBERT continued, was overwhelming.
Sees People Condemned.
To take away the British troops -
ne said, means to condemn these I'M
happy people to extinction, the REM
nants OF them will be slaughtered all
most to the man. woman and child. II
tnere Is any competition between help
Tor Denikine (The anti Bolsheyik COM
mander In southern Russia) and help
Ior Armenia. Armenia surely has the
first claim"
The Laborites sharply criticised the
Governments coal mining proposal and
It's failure to nationalist coal mines.
william Brace. Labor member for South
Glomorgan and president OF the South
wales Miners Federation. described the
Governments plan as "the establishment
OF glorified combine"
In beginning his address Premier
Lloyd George said that before the war
imports had exceeded exports from the
United Kingdom by $3.50. 000, 900 Re-
ceipts from foreign investments at pres
ent are down to $500, 900. 900.
Labor conditions in the United King
ccm, Mr.. Lloyd George added, had inn
proved. OF the $500. 900 men demobilized
only $4,000 have not been absorbed in
industries.
Pensions cost the Government $780,
100000 yearly. Private expenditure In
the aggregate. the Premier said, was
more formidable than public expenditure
One way Of meeting the increase in
expenditure was to increase production,
but the output is less In everything
except agriculture.
The Premier declared that II the
country continued in the way In which
1t has been going. the adverse trade
balance would reach $4,000. O00, 900.
1--WE cannot prosper" Lloyd George
said, I'VE cannot even exist without re-
covering and maintaining our interna-
tional trade. We must bring up the
trade balance, adding to our exports
and lessening our imports.
I'VE have advanced some $40, 900. o0O,-
600 to the world from which, we are
getting something like $500, 900, 900
yearly in interest. We have sold $1,000
100000 of foreign securities to pay for
war material for ourselves and our allies
We have borrowed $4,000, 900, 900 from
America and Canada for the same pur-
pose. Our allies. including Russia, owe
US $4,000. 100000
I'VE are building a temporary bridge
by borrowing. not only State borrowing
but traders borrowing for raw ma
| terial. food and so forth. That will
| only add to the catastrophe.
in every direction we are spending
more. We are earning less. we are con-
| Stunning more and We are producing less.
These are facts. 1t cannot last"
Coal Shortage Is Menacing.
| The production of coal this year, the
Premier continued. would be 200, 900. 900
tons. compared with. 2s7.000. 900 before
the war, although 10000 more miners
are employed at present than in 1914.
| Premier Lloyd George declared that
coal was the chief factor in the indus
| trial situation. He said that the outlook
\ was indeed dark unless the conditions
which he stated were changed. The
| Premier continued
| I'm America the wages are higher
hours of labor are no longer and the
labor cost in proportion TO the articles
produced is less. This being the case
competition is impossible and no tarin
will remedy this
After pointing out that the British
pound at present was worth in the
United States only $4.37, the Premier
said:
1--WE shall never improve matters unit
we increase production. or we will b,
driven later to reduce even lower tn,
standard of living In this country
There is no other alternative excep
quitting the country for which we Tough
for four years
1.-The world is, suffering from shell
shock on a big scale but all of thi1 will
pass away"
One OF the arguments in favor Of re
ducing the number of working hours
the Premier said was that the reduc
ton in time would not involve a reduc
ton in output. There has been a sub
stantial reduction In the hours OF labor
he said, and it has been found that tn
output has been reduced almost In tn,
same mathematical proportion
Labor Warned to Speed Up.
Labor has made tremendous gain
during the last two or three years. tn
Premier added. but he said these coul,
not be maintained II production did no
Increase.