P UBLIC interest during the week has been centred on th e
Guildhall banquet, which took place on Wednesday night, When, in the absence of the Prime Minister, Lord Lansdowne replied to the toast of "His Majesty's Ministers." He con- veyed to the assemblage Mr. Balfour's regrets, and assured them that, in spite of his illness, the Prime Minister had never for a moment ceased tis attention to public work. The City, he continued, must always take a keen interest in foreign affairs, for our foreign policy was largely determined by our commercial interests. The City must in a peculiar degree regard war as " the most futile and ferocious of human follies." He was happy to be able to stand there and tell them that the peace of the country was unbroken, and that there was no reason why it should not remain so. He described the North Sea incident as a deplorable blunder, and in the eyes of the Government a culpable blunder, but he added that they were now convinced that Russia in good faith believed the extraordinary tale which she urged in her defence. In these circumstances, the only solution was an International Com- Mission, and it was also clear that the selection of officers whose guilt was possible must be left to Russia. The responsibility rested upon her, and it would be a great mis- take to relieve her of it. The Government within the last few days bad been assured that the officers left behind at Vigo were those actually implicated in the affair, and that, if it turned out on investigation that other officers were concerned, they also should be adequately punished. " No litigants ever went into Court with more confidence in the justice of their cause than that which we feel when we approach this important inquiry."
