The Prime Minister went on to deprecate the tendency to interpret frank reports by Ministers of inadequades in defence arrangements as an admission that the plans for defence were an entire failure, or would have broken down if put to the test, The House might depend upon it, he said, that defects existed in the defence systems of all countries, although they did not hear so much about them.
After referring to the duties given to the new Lord Privy Seal, Sir John Anderson, Mr. Chamberlain took up the suggestion made by Mr. Attlee that there was no authority to Wecide priority between service departments and that there had been no strategic planning The Prime Minister gave a flat denial to both those propositions.
Peiping, Nov. 9.
According to information from Chinese sources, Mr, Lei Shou-yung, former Director of the Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation, left for Hankow recently.
It is stated that Mr. Lei went there in connection with preparations for the organization of a provisional government.
The same circles state that General Tang Hsiang-min, a former Tuchun of Hunan and Navy Minister in the Peiping Government, is mentioned as a candidate for the position of head of a Wuhan government.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.