29 MAY 1909, Page 2

Of Mr. Balfour's speech we can only say that the

greater part of it showed a strong sense of what Lord John Russell once called the House of Commons' conscience. At the same time, we endorse his conclusion that it is of real importance that a definite standard should be laid down. " Let us," he said, " have something quite clear and explicit." We heartily agree with this, and also with Mr. Balfour's suggestion that if there was to be a variation in the formula of a two-Power standard with a margin, it would be wise to adopt as our standard "twice the naval strength of the next largest single Power."