Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who summed up the case for the
Opposition in a temperate speech, must be credited with making one good point at the expense of Lord Salis- bury. The Premier had complained of lack of secret service money as a cause of imperfect information as to the arma- ments of the Boers. But Sir Henry was able to show that of the 290.000 voted by Parliament in 1896, 1897, and 1898, only 277,948 were expended. As regards the principles of the ultimate settlement he was prepared to endorse the views of Mr. Asquith. Mr. Balfour's reply coatrasted favourably with his speech at the opening of the debate. He disposed of the attack on the War Office by pointing out that apart from Mr. Wyndham's brilliant vindication of that Depart- ment, it had been effectively defended by the mover of the Amendment and the Leader of the Opposition. When the House divided, the numbers were 352 to 139, or a majority of 213 for the Government. An analysis of the division list shows that two Liberal Members voted for the majority and twenty-nine abstained, as did the Nationalists, the minority being exclusively composed of Liberals.
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