In the regrettable absence, through mourning, of the Premier and
the Foreign Minister, the chief speakers at the Guildhall Banquet on Friday week were Mr. Haldane and the Marquis of Ripon. Mr. Haldane asserted, not only in his own name, but in that of the Cabinet, that their policy and solemn obligation was to maintain at the present juncture in their full strength the fighting power and efficiency of the forces of the Crown. This, be contended, was not the spirit of militarism; it was to recognise the need of being prepared to face the emergencies of a time which future nations might look back upon as a period of barbarism. Lord Ripon handsomely acknowledged the debt of the Ministry to their predecessors in regard to foreign policy. It was, he said, their duty and their pleasure to follow in the main the policy which Lord Lansdowne had pursued. Lord Ripon's references to Morocco and Egypt contained nothing new, but he made the gratifying announcement that the Government had stipulated that the improvements in the administration of Macedonia should be enacted or satisfactorily begun before they agreed to any increase of the Custom-duties of Turkey. With Lord Ripon's references to the Congo we have dealt elsewhere. We may add that Baron Kernels, the new Japanese Ambassador, was loudly applauded when, in the course of an excellent speech, he declared that his countrymen were devoted to the Alliance. " They are," he continued, " united in their desire to maintain and strengthen that Alliance, and they firmly believe that their desire will be fully reciprocated."
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