Taking the debate as a whole, we greatly regret that
Lord Wemyss and Lord Rosebery should have placed the dis- cussion on the lines they did. We strongly object to the system of calling men alarmists, panicmongers, or old women because they take a serious view of the state of the national defences, and insist on calling attention to them, and we hold that it is the duty of Members of Parliament in both Houses to deal with all such matters in the most serious spirit. But unfortunately Lord Wemyss and Lord Rosebery both failed to come to close quarters with their subject. They only raised a vague and general suspicion as to our want of preparation, and made no suggestions which could be called in the least helpful. The one definite proposal—namely, that the experts should come into the House of Lords and give their views— was, as we have tried to show elsewhere, a very mischievous one.
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