The Drink Question.
reports of American agents about the treatment meted out to British prisoners in Germany; and this was increased in May by the publication of the report of a committee, presided over by Lord Bryce, confirming the stories of outrage committed by the Germans in Belgium and France. The Prime Minister had no difficulty in obtaining a supplementary Vote of Credit for 37,000,000, and a fresh Vote of Credit for 250,000,000, the cost of the war having already reached two millions a day.
The great difficulty with which the Government had to cope this spring was the insufficient supply of munitions of war, due mainly to strikes, to trade-union practices favouring es ' slow production, and to drink. Appeals were made to the working men by Lord Kitchener; and on March 9 Mr. Lloyd George introduced a new Defence of the Realm bill, giv- ing the Government wide powers of mobilizing industry. On March 17 the Chancellor of the Exchequer met the representa- tives of 35 trade unions, and pointed out to them that the dura- tion of the war depended on the rate at which munitions could be turned out. Ultimately an agreement was reached under which there was to be in no case any stoppage of work upon muni- tions and equipments of war; all differences were to be the subject of conference between the parties and in case of disagreement to be referred to arbitration; trade practices were to be relaxed during the war period. In harmony with the spirit of this agree- ment there was enrolled at Liverpool, under Lord Derby's com- mand, a Dockers' Battalion. With regard to drink Mr. Lloyd George told a deputation of shipowners which advocated total prohibition during the war: " We are fighting Germany, Austria, and drink; and, as far as I can see, the greatest of these three deadly foes is drink." In order to set a good example tne ^ n & announced that he would give up all alco- holic liquor till after the war, and issued orders against its consumption in the Royal Household. Lord Kitchener, and a considerable number of loyal subjects, followed His Majesty's example. On April 29 Mr. Lloyd George introduced the minis- terial proposals which increased enormously the taxation on all alcoholic liquors, and included powers to close and control pubh'c-houses in munition areas. But public opinion was not ripe for so stringent a measure, and compelled the withdrawal of these proposals; and the Government contented themselves with setting up a Liquor Control Board with Lord D'Abernon (formerly Sir Edgar Vincent) as chairman, which drastically reduced the alcoholic strength of beer and spirits, in munition or populous areas, and the hours during which public-houses might be open and liquor sold. Only for some two hours in the mid- dle of the day and for some three hours in the evening could drink be procured; and the arrangement worked well.
The question of munitions became critical in April and May. The battle of Neuve Chapelle in March had been indecisive owing to a deficiency of ammunition, which was re- Defideacy vealed to the people of England by a dispatch from "\iuniiiiinx. the Military Correspondent of The Times (Col. Rep- ington). Mr. Asquith indeed, in a speech at New- castle-on-Tyne mainly devoted to encouraging munition workers to deliver the goods " more promptly and more effectively," amazed and angered the public by denying that operations in the field had been crippled through lack of ammunition. But Lord Kitchener confessed that " the output is not equal to our needs "; and Mr. Lloyd George dwelt in the House of Commons on the unprecedented expenditure of artillery ammunition and the new importance given to high explosives. The problem, he said, was to produce munitions not only on a much larger scale than ever before but of a different kind. To the anxieties caused by the deficiency of munitions were added those due to the desperate resistance with which the troops, just landed with high hopes on Gallipoli, had been met. Disagreement about the Dardanelles operations between Mr. Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Lord Fisher, the First Sea Lord, came to a head; and the Prime Minister, who had on May 12 contradicted the current rumours of coalition, formally told the House a week later that the Government was to be recon- structed " on a broader personal and political basis."
The reconstruction took place during the Whitsuntide recess, it being carefully explained by Mr. Asquith that there was no change of policy and no sacrifice by any minister of his political ideals. The Coalition was " for the pur- Flrst pose of the war alone." Mr. Asquith, Sir Edward nini*t. Grey and Lord Kitchener retained their respective offices, and Lord Crewe remained Lord President and leader in the Lords; Lord Lansdowne joined the Ministry with- out portfolio; Mr. Bonar Law became Colonial Secretary; Mr. Balfour took over the Admiralty from Mr. Churchill, who became Chancellor of the Duchy; Mr. Austen Chamberlain went to the India Offiqe; and Lord Curzon, Mr. (afterwards Lord) Long, and Lord Selborne also entered the Cabinet. Mr. Asquith sought the cooperation of both the Irish leaders in his Cabinet; but, while Sir Edward Carson accepted the Attorney- Generalship (having Mr. F. E. Smith as Solicitor-General), Mr. Redmond declined to enter. Mr. Henderson, the leader of the Labour party, became President of the Board of Education. Public opinion would not tolerate the retention of Lord Haldane, with his German associations, as Lord Chancellor. The post was declined by the Attorney-General, Sir John Simon, and he became Home Secretary. The Solicitor-General, Sir Stanley Buckmaster, was accordingly promoted to the woolsack as Lord Buckmaster. The vital importance of guns and ammuni- tion was recognized by the creation of a new Ministry of Muni- tions, at the head of which was placed the most energetic member of the late Ministry, already rivalling Mr. Asquith in reputation, Mr. Lloyd George. Mr. McKenna succeeded to the Chancel- lorship of the Exchequer, and Mr. Runciman, Mr. Birrell, Mr. McKinnon Wood and Mr. Harcourt remained in the Cabinet. The Liberal ministers who retired, besides Lord Haldane, were Lord Beauchamp, Mr. Hobhouse, Mr. Pease, Lord Lucas and Lord Emmott; Mr. Herbert Samuel became Postmaster-General, but was excluded from the Cabinet; and Mr. Montagu became Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Robert Cecil Under- secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Duke of Devonshire Civil Lord of the Admiralty; Mr. Brace, the Labour member, was ' appointed Under-Secretary for Home Affairs.
The country, which was cheered this May by the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Allies, welcomed the new Ministry as giving promise of a more strenuous con- duct of hostilities. Mr. Lloyd George threw himself Mr. Lloyd with ardour into his new work, enlisted the aid of Mnister*of business and practical men and men of science in its Munitions. organization, and made a personal appeal to the great towns, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff, to concentrate on enlarging the output, and to consent to the modification of such trade-union rules as conflicted with rapid and efficient production. It was in the workshops of the country, he said, that success must be sought. He urged the conversion of workshops engaged in the arts of peace into factories for turn- ing out munitions of war. Mr. Lloyd George got at once to work on the lines he had laid down. He brought in on June 23 a Munitions of War bill, embodying his plans for increasing output. They were based on a system of decentralization. There were to be 10 munition areas, managed by local business men. There must be no strikes or lockouts; disputes must be referred to arbitration. Skilled men must be brought back from the army; Munition Courts appointed, representative of Govern- ment, employers and workmen; trade-union regulations restrict- ing output must be suspended; and employers' profits limited. These proposals, with some modifications, were accepted by the Labour leaders; and the bill promptly became law.
But the Act by no means put a complete stop to labour troubles. In July the South Wales miners suddenly demanded a new minimum rate of wages higher than the previous maximum. Mr. Runciman, President of f^f of the Board of Trade, in vain endeavoured to compose wales the quarrel. The Government applied the provisions Miners. of the Munitions Act with no result, and a card vote gave a majority for a strike. Mr. Lloyd George went down to Cardiff and effected a settlement by an advance on
