8 APRIL 1911, Page 3

In the ;House of Commons on Thursday the Archer-Shoe case

was discussed, and Mr. McKenna made a full and hand- some apology for the great wrong done to the boy in the long series of events which began with his dismissal from Osborne. Mr. McKenna also promised that the question of compensa- tion and costs should be submitted to a committee, consisting of the Attorney-General, Sir Edward Carson (who was counsel to Mr. Archer-Shee), and Lord Mersey. We hope that the history of this painful case will soon be only a memory, but it will always he a most humiliating one. For two years the family of an innocent boy tried in vain to be allowed to prove his innocence. If the boy had had poor parents his innocence would not be proved now. Even when at length the boy's father had broken through the formidable and technical out- works of the Admiralty no apology and no compensation for the wrong done were offered to the boy. These have come at last, but the whole story is shameful.