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Show ENGLISH STAFF ill FIELD IS FLAYED ! Charges of Incompetence j and Neglect Are Made j in House of Lords by ; Baron St. Davids in t Sensational Address. jj TOO MANY KEPT AT HEADQUARTERS 5 i i Demands to Know j Whether Explanation Will Be Made of Re- ports That Women Go to Quarters in France, f LOXDOX, Xov. 16, 9:10 p. m. Charges of incompetency and neglect of their work were brought against the British staff iu France by Baron St Davids in the houEe of lords this even- f ing, when he asked the government whether its attention had been called to "i the reports alleging that during the re- jj ceDt fighting there had been many com- t" plaints as to the failures of the staff work. Lord St. Davids asserted that meu had been added to the staff for no military : reasons who ought to be in the trenches, and that he had been told that the Brit- ' ish headquarters staff was five or sii times as large as that of General Joffre, the French commander in chief. It had been stated, he continued, that women visited headquarters in France, and lie asked whether the government defended their presence there. Too Much Bridge. The people were sending their sons out to fight under the direction of men who, he declared, were living at headquarters head-quarters in vast numbers, and could not get up early to their offices because they were up late playing bridge. "It is about time," said Lord St. Davids, "that the men were given a fair chance. More than once the troops have broken the German lines, but, owing ow-ing to bad staff work, the whole thing fell through. Many lives have beeu : sacrificed owing to muddling in high . places.'1 The Marquis of Crewe, Lord Privy Seal, replied that the allegation that snccess at Loos had been missed owing to the failure to bring up reserves at ,. the right time was the subject of an inquiry between the highest authorities 1 that could be invoked. Baron Newton, who said he was uu- .-able .-able to disclose the number of the Brit- i ish staff, defended it, as did also Viscount Vis-count lialdane, the former secretary for war. Denial is Made. Lord Haldaue declared that Lord St. ' Davids had launched his attack without I adequate information. "It is true," he ( said, "that the country has suffered owing to the want of an organized gen- 1 eral staff. Nevertheless, there has been evolved a general staff of the highest ' order. To say the work of the staff is a failure is to say something which is very far from the truth. As for Field Marshal French, he is up at 6 o'clock in the morning. The Marquis of Crewe said that from his knowledge of Field Marshal French . he thought it exceedingly unlikely that he would submit to having persons j forced upon his personal staff. Lord '; Crewe had no hesitation in saying that ' unless women had busiuess at headquarters head-quarters they ought not to go there. |