In the House of Commons en Tuesday Mr. Lloyd George,
in the absence of Mr. Asquith owing to an indisposition which we hope will be brief, announced that Mr. Runciman will be the principal British representative at the Economic Conference of the Allies in Paris. Sir Edward Grey stated that Britain, France, and Russia had recently given a guarantee to Belgium that she would be invited to participate in the peace negotiations when the proper time came. But he very properly added that no peace would be oven considered which did not provide for the economic and political independence of Belgium and for her indemnification for the injury done to her. There was another long discussion on recruiting. We need mention only the statements of Mr. Long. He said that the War Office Conference on the previous day had considered the first Report of the Board of Trade Committee re- ducing the list of reserved occupations and refusing exemption altogether to men below a certain age. Men who had taken up exempted occupations since August 14th, 1915, would not be held entitled to release from military service. Moreover, it had been decided that agriculture could spare still more men. " We are doing our best to bring in the unmarried, and that is the full extent of our pledge."
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