Mr. Asquith, who followed the Prime Minister, said that he
would reserve judgment as to the details of the Bill until he saw it in print. The teat for every proposal made during the war was whether or not it would expedite victory. The question in this case was whether the military results of. the Bill would outweigh the dislocation of industry and other disadvantages. The situation was graver than it had ever been since the war began. Though the German offensive had been foreseen, and doubtless prepared for, it came in its earlier stages within a measurable and perilous distance of success. Amiens was seriously menaced, and the Allies could only hold out by a supreme and sustained effort. This was net the time to discuss the responsibility for the reverse, which had been checked by the indomitable tenacity of the British soldier. Mr. Asquith told the House that his son's battery, in covering the retreat, took part in twenty-one engagements in twelve days. He urged the Government to give more time to the debates on the Bill, and to listen to all reasonable objections with a view to securing a general agreement.
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