MR. ASQUITH'S NEWCASTLE SPEECH.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " EIPECTATOE."1 Ste,—In the final chapter of his book published on Tuesday Lord French says that Mr. Asquith stated that "the Army hail all the ammunition it required." Mr. Asquith never said that the Army had "all the ammunition it required." And if Lord French had read Mr. Asquith's speech he would not have made this loose statement. Nobody knows better than Lord French that the man really responsible for the supply of munitions was the Master-General of Ordnance, a member of the Army Council. If Major-General Von Donop was not allowed facilities for producing the necessary supply of muni- tions, his duty to the Army and to the nation was to resign. Lord French says,.
"The War Office then [January 19th, 1915] declined to work up to'niore than twenty rounds a day, and refused a request for fifty per cent. of high explosives. This amazing attitude at a most critical time compelled me to consider means by which the several members of the Government and the public also might be advised of this deplorable apathy which, if long continued, meant the destruction of the Army."
Does this mean that either Lord Kitchener or Major-General Von Donop, or both, turned a deaf ear to his urgent demands? Lord Kitchener is not here to answer, but Major-General Von Donop is. Let Lord French tell the nation what satisfaction he got from the Master-General of Ordnance and Woolwich between December 31st, 1914, and March 91st, 1915. Lord French has said too much or too little, and his charges—as grave as a man can bring—are vague and in some cases
obviously inaccurate.—I am, Sir, &c., PERCY Clam Brooks's Club.
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