"We have on our side made plans—plans of great detail.
"We have made a calculation of shipping requirements."
The historical qualification of British military effort abroad still remained—every soldier who fought had to be transported, and every weapon he used, shell he fired and vehicle he drove, had to be carried overseas.
The whole of the British Army, therefore, could not arrive simultaneously in a theatre of war where continental armies might already be in position, It would have to be dispatched in echelons on serial dates.
In this connection, the War Secretary made one reference to those who advocated conscription in Great Britain, He said that while the case for national service in peacetime might be argued on grounds of moral and physical well-being, it would be mistake 1o assume that it would The statement by the Secretary for War, Mr. Leslie Here-Belisha, in ihe House of Commons, created a sensation today, especially that part of it asserting the Territorial Army to be prepared for a continental w This declaration was taken as evidence that British military schemes call for large-scale support of France in war, Spokesmen in the House, taking the floor after Mr. Here-Belisha approved his statements. Among these speakers were Colonel H. L. Nathan, Labour member for Central Wands-worth, and Mr. A. Duff-Cooper, Conservative member for St. George's, Westminster, and former First Lord of the Admiralty.
These two members were particularly remarked among ihe sup porters of the War Secret ry's policy because they were previous! stated to be in the opposition camp—
Havas,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.