27 NOVEMBER 1915, Page 2

Lord Derby ban been censured for the strength of his

language, but in our opinion he deserved not censure but support. He has had the courage to say plainly what thousands of his countrymen are thinking, and we honour him for doing so. The politic man might probably have argued: " The Staff officer is never popular like the regimental officer, and therefore I am not going to run the risk of defending an unpopular body. The Staff can look after themselves." Instead, Lord Derby plunged into a defence of men unjustly assailed. Boldness and absence of finesse are just what the country likes, and that is why

Lord Derby, as we believe, is going to play a great part in our politics. He has won the coufidence of his countrymen already, and his fearlessness, coupled with good judgment, good sense, and intellectual abilities of no mean order, will carry him far. He may not be as great an orator as his grandfather, but oratory, thank Heaven, is just • now at a discount in this country. Lord Derby not only means what he says, but speaks quite well enough to make the nation understand him. Indeed, one may say of him, as the Duke of Argyll said of Lord Hartiugton: "Oh, gentlemen, what a comfort it is to have a man who menus what he says, and means you to understand what he says."