We have dealt in our leading columns with Mr. Asquith ' s
announcements in regard to compulsion and the Cabinet and his own position. It remains to say something here as to the other sections of his speech. As to Serbia, Mr. Asquith's words could not have been battered :— "I have to say this, and I say it on behalf of the Government and the people of the United Kingdom. We here in this United Kingdom—and I know it is also the opinion of our French and Russian allies—cannot allow Serbia to become the prey of a sinister and nefarious combination. . . . Serbia may be assured—so far as I am able to do so I give her that assurance on the part of the British Government to-day—that her independence is regarded by us as one of the essential objects we have in view."
In other words, even if in the ebb and flow of the battle tide Serbia were for a time to be overwhelmed, we shall not make peace until she once more rises a free and independent nation.
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