[3] Mr. Haldane reduced the Army by nine battalions (_i.e._ 9000 men) in 1906. He stated that he had no use for them. This meant a great deal more, when the reserve-making power is taken into consideration.... "The Regular Army ... has been reduced by over 30,000 men; not only a present, but a serious prospective loss."--Lord Roberts in the House of Lords, April 3, 1913. [4] Even four years later we find Sir Wilfrid Laurier wedded to the belief that the German Emperor was one of the great men of the present age; wonderfully endowed by intellect, character, and moral fibre; his potent influence was always directed towards peace.--Canadian _House of Commons Debates_, February 27, 1913, 4364. The whole of this speech (4357-4364) in opposition to Mr. Borden's Naval Forces Bill is interesting reading, as is also a later speech, April 7, 1913, on the same theme (7398-7411). [5] _How Britain Strove for Peace_, by Sir Edward Cook: especially pp. 18-35; also _Why Britain is at War_, by the same author. These two pamphlets are understood to be a semi-official statement authorised by the British Government. [6] Lord Haldane has explained German conduct in the present war by a sudden change of spirit, such as once befell a collie dog which owned him as master, and which after a blameless early career, was possessed by a fit of depravity in middle life and took to worrying sheep. Thus in a single metaphor he extenuates the German offence and excuses his own blindness! [7] "Lord Haldane: What he did to thwart Germany." Pamphlet published by the _Daily Chronicle_. [8] At Cardiff, October 2, 1914. [9] If this were really so, it is remarkable that Germany has not published these opiate documents, which lulled her vigilance and were the cause of her undoing. In the _New York Evening Post_ (February 15, 1915) there is a letter signed 'Historicus' in which the German version of the facts is not seriously questioned, although a wholly different inference is drawn: "This extremely conciliatory attitude of England is another proof of the pacific character of her foreign policy. But, unfortunately, German political thought regards force as the sole controlling factor in international relations, and cannot conceive of concessions voluntarily made in answer to claims of a more or less equitable nature. To the German mind such actions are infallible indications of weakness and decadence. Apparently Grey's attitude towards German claims in Turkey and Africa was so interpreted, and the conclusion was rashly reached that England could be ignored in the impending world-war." [10] "The time has now come to state with a clearness which cannot be mistaken that Sir Edward Grey as Foreign Secretary is impossible."--_Daily News_, January 10, 1912. The _Daily News_ was not a lonely voice speaking in the wilderness. Similar threats have been levelled against Mr. Churchill.