Colonel Churchill's reply to what he somewhat conventionally °ailed Mr.
Balfour's " sword-play " was a very poor affair. After a whining complaint that Mr. Balfour's dialectical skill had been used against "one so much younger than himself," Colonel Churchill went on to say that Mr. Balfour had stated his (Colonel Churchill's) charges in a crudely exaggerated manner. Next, Mr. Balfour had tried somewhat lamely to hedge in regard to his insinuations as to the naval peril. But if Colonel Churchill was ineffective here, what shall we say of the futile and per- functory manner in which he met Mr. Balfour's crushing indict- ment in regard to the Lord Fisher episode ? Ho made Mr. Balfour a present, ho declared, of all the rhetorical and debating retorts, but, after all, what was the real fact ? "The real fact is that if we could associate, in some way or another, the driving- power and energy of Lord Fisher with the carrying out of Lord Fisher's programme at the highest possible speed, there is no mason to suppose that great public advantage would not result from it."
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