CONTRACTS EXPIRING AT THE END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE. Memorandum by the Joint Secretaries.

A point arises on this provision, namely, whether it gives sufficient discretion to enable a date to be fixed for the end of the war in Europe substantially later than the date of the proclamation referred to above. 3. It may be useful to recall what happened after the last war. Soon after the Armistice in 1918 the Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act was passed, on the recommendation of a committee presided over by Lord Atkin. The need for the Act was imperative because nearly all the Emergency Acts, including the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, under which Defence of the Realm Regulations were made, depended on the duration of "the present war".