31 MAY 1919, Page 3

Although the position taken up by Mr. Asquith in his

recent speech at Newcastle seems to have been invulnerable so far as the argument of the speech went, our readers know that In our opinion the real blame for what happened in 1914 and 1915 must be extended to matters quite outside the Newcastle speech of four years ago. The culpability of Liberals In the matter of arms and ammunition and military preparations in general was very great indeed long before Germany made war. At Newcastle Mr. Asquith was suffering from the results of that policy, and for it he was as much to blame as any other statesmen. This is the real truth. Lord French has assailed Mr. Asquith on the wrong grounds, and with a battery of inaccurate statements.