24 JUNE 1911, Page 2

When one takes the list as a whole and considers

what the difficulties of compilation must have been, one can thoroughly appreciate Mr. Gladstone's remark that, though he was the best of sleepers, he had to confess that the Honours List kept him awake at night. One can imagine a Prime Minister's dreams haunted by spectral figures chasing K.C.B.'s and C.B.'s up and down endless corridors in innumerable public offices, coronets falling like booby traps on the wrong heads, and legs thrust into garters " that are for others." As a whole, however, and in spite of all the drawbacks and difficulties, we are convinced that our system of Honours is a useful one and works for the public benefit.