Today -100: August 23, 1916: In the dim distance we can see the end

In Parliament, War Minister Lloyd George says “I think in the dim distance we can see the end” of the war. He says criticisms of the Allied performance at the Battle of the Somme are unjustified because they never really intended to break through German lines (false), they succeeded in drawing German troops away from Verdun and relieving the situation there (true), and German losses are much higher than those of the Allies (false).

Winston Churchill says Britain should prepare for a long war and the government should take over food supplies and prices as well as shipping, which has seen scandalous increases in rates.

Prime Minister Asquith, responding to a parliamentary question about whether he would recall Parliament from its forthcoming adjournment if peace proposals are made, says no.

Headline of the Day -100:

Unless, of course, you consider war to be itself a form of insanity.

The NYT notes that Republicans have stopped referring to their presidential candidate as “Justice Hughes” in favor of “Governor Hughes.” The Times, which seems to have more than a few resentments left over from his period in Albany, castigates Hughes for his support of direct primaries then and the women’s suffrage amendment now, “another instance of the same precipitate and complete absorption in a single unripe idea, the same ignoring of practical facts, the same lack of plain common sense.”

The US will ask Turkey politely not to massacre the Armenian survivors of its previous massacres who are now refugees in Persia, where Turkey is conducting military operations. Spoiler Alert: Turkey will totally massacre Armenian survivors of its previous massacres.

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