§ 45. Sir W. BYLESasked the Prime Minister whether the Government has discerned in the recent debates in the German Reichstag, in the speech of the German Chancellor or elsewhere, any indications on the part of our principal enemy of a disposition to transfer the settlement of the issues involved in the War from the battlefield to the council table; and, if so, whether, in the councils of the Allies, our Government can see its way to suggest any form of response to that disposition?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am sure that my hon. Friend is as competent as any member of the Government to draw inferences from the recent debates in the Reichstag. As regards the rest of the question, I would refer him to the public statements I have made and to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Blackburn on 8th December.
§ Sir W. BYLESMay I ask if the indications to which my question refers do not suggest that after seventeen months of conflict it is becoming probable that the objects for which we are contending can be more easily obtained by conference?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member is only repeating what already appears on the Paper in better terms.