.

I believe that in order to act with such decision it was essential to
have a King, that is to say, a leader responsible to history, of an old
and proved stock.

I believe that for such action a Christian nation was essential, a
nation capable of understanding, of accepting, and of enduring the
ordeal.

I believe that the first duty of the Allies will be to restore the
Kingdom of Belgium, and that the example shown by the King and his
people will be exalted in all civilized countries as long as the world
reads history.

Britain's Peril of Strikes and Drink

By David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The gravity of labor disputes in the present time of national
danger was dealt with by Mr. Lloyd George in a speech to his
constituents at Bangor on Feb. 28, 1915, special reference
being made to the Clyde strike. He declared that compulsory
arbitration in war time was imperative, as it was "intolerable
that the lives of Britons should be imperiled for a matter of
a farthing an hour." This was essentially an engineers' war,
for equipment was even more needed than men. Mr. Lloyd George
went on to comment on the adverse effect of drinking upon
production, and added: "We have great powers to deal with
drink, and we shall use them."

I have promised for some time to address a meeting at Bangor. I have
been unable to do so because Ministers of the Crown have been working
time and overtime, and I am sorry to say that we are not even able to
make the best of the day of rest, the urgency is so great, the pressure
is so severe. I had something to say today, otherwise I should not have
been here, and I had something to say that required stating at once.
This is the only day I had to spare. It is no fault of mine. It is
because we are entirely absorbed in the terrible task which has been
cast upon our shoulders. I happened to have met on Friday morning,
before I decided to come down here, one of the most eminent Scottish
divines, a great and old friend of mine, Dr. Whyte of Edinburgh. We were
discussing what I have got to say today. I remarked to him, "I have only
one day on which to say it, and as that is Sunday afternoon I am very
much afraid my constituents won't listen to me." He replied, "If they
won't have you, come to Scotland, and we will give you the best Sunday
afternoon meeting you ever had." But I thought I would try Wales first.
[Cheers.]