11 AUGUST 1906, Page 2

Thursday's papers contained the letter of the Duke of Somerset,

the chairman of the Milner Address Committee, conveying the public address, and Lord Milner's reply. The analysis of the signatures shows that the address was signed by upwards of three hundred and seventy thousand adult males, representing every walk of life, and including nearly ninety thousand working men ; and the ,Duke of Somerset lays stress on the fact that in order to ex- clude any suggestion of party politics the Committee had acquiesced in Lord Milner's wish that the address should be sent to him privately and not presented at a public meeting. Lord Milner's reply is conceived and expressed in just the right spirit. While cordially recognising the distinction involved in the address, he recognises that ha

owes it "much less to any merit of my own than to resent- ment felt at some of the attacks made upon me, which were regarded not only as unfair to the particular individual who was subjected to them, but as injurious to the public service generally."