4 SEPTEMBER 1915, Page 2

" Judged by numbers," says Mr. Balfour, "this cumulative result of

many successive crimes does not equal the single effort of the submarine which, to the unconcealed pride of Germany and the horror of all the world, sent eleven hundred and ninety-eight unoffending civilians to the bottom in the Lusitania.' Yet it is bad enough, and we may well ask what military advantage has been gained at the cost of so much innocent blood." The answer is easily given: no soldier or sailor has been killed; seven have been wounded ; and only on one occasion has any damage of the smallest military importance been done. In fine, " Zeppelin raids have been brutal, but so far they have not been effective. They have served no hostile purpose, moral or material." Mr. Balfour's letter, which is refreshingly free from boastfulness or rash prophecy, is a complete vindication of the Admiralty's present policy of reticence as regards the locus in quo. We think, however, that more details should be published as to what happened "somewhere in England." The Zeppelins should prove excellent recruiters. But they lose their force for this purpose if we are not allowed to know any particulars. Mere etatisties of mortality make little or no appeal to resist the invader.