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Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16113, 18 January 1918, Page 6

Tho American Secretary of State seems to have an inexhaustible supply of interesting documents bearing on the subject of German intrigue. Doubtless his disclosures of what had been going on between the unspeakable Bernstorff and M. Caillaux had as much to do with the arrest of the latter as the compromising documents which were found in a safe in Florence, and forwarded to the French Prime Minister by Baron Sonnino.

We need hardly say that M. Caillaux has been a suspect in the eyes of most patriotic Frenchmen for some time past. At the end of November, having been accused by M. Gustave Herve, the editor of "La Victoire,'' of what is known in France as "Defeatism" —that is, to attempt to bring about a peace •without victory—M. Caillaux challenged the journalist to put statement in actionable form. M. Herve promptly responded by roundly accusing M. Caillaux of having been the devoted friend and constant protector of 8010, Almeyleda, and other suspicious characters. When the mail loft, M. Caillaux had not issued his threatened writ, and he will be forced to justify himself in another -way if, indeed, any justification is possible. On a day in November last the •''Daily Mail'' printed a leaderette under the heading, "Our Downright; .the text beiiis ..two teie-

grams which showed "how far from exhaustion even now is the spirit with which tho Dominions flung themselves into the war." The first was a message recording the registration of Canadians under the Military Service Act. "The second telegram." the "Mail'-' proceeded, "informs us that in Australia Mr Hughes has staked his Government's existence on the adoption of his referendum on the question of compulsory service, thac the issue is to be submitted forthwith to the people, and that the chief criticism of the Ministerial proposals is that they do not go far enough." The "Mail" had its explanation—the old one of miserable old England and bright young Australia: "No doubt, in those spacious, unencumbered lands, where straightforward action is almost ail instinct, it is easier to get things done than iu a convention-rid-den land like ours. They see a need and start in at once to meet it. We talk about it and discover scruples and search around for a compromise, and in the end. nine times out of ten, take action too late or ineffectively." We do not think England need go to the foot of tho class just yet.

There are still people who refuse to believe that the German mentality differs so completely from the mentality of the British people as they are told. Perhaps they will see some cause to take a bolder view when they read of the imprisonment of Flight-Sergeant Alexander Boyd, who was shot down in tho North Sea and taken prisoner. When he was shot down he tried to send off a message by pigeon, but the Germans captured the message, in which they found the words: "Picked up by the Huns." Boyd was charged with insulting the German Defence forces, but he pleaded that he had no idea of the meaning of "Hun," considering it a mere variant of "Fritz, and he frankly apologised for an unintentional offonce. Nevertheless ho was sentenced to a year's imprisonment. It is not the brutality of the Huns' conduct that strikes one in this incident, but their deadness to fair l'lay, good humour, and good sense. The facts, we may add, are not the invention of a British satirist; 1 they are taken from the "Kolnisehe Zeitung." » The Lord Mayor's banquet in November was the subject of some sharp, and, we think, deserved criticism. As Sir Arthur Yapp had appealed for tho abandonment of Mayoral banquets, the "Daily Mail" sought an explanation from a city official, and it learned that it would be "ridiculous" to ration the city's guests. The menu would not be "unduly extravagant." The invitation card, despite the paper shortage, was a large affair of twelve by eighteen inches, and across the smaller card for presentation at tho door a slip was pasted notifying tho guests that the Petrol Control Committee had given permission for the guests to use motor-cars. Mr Bonar Law stated in the House that he and Mr Lloyd George had accepted invitations 011 tho understanding that the Controller's regulations would be complied with. But it can hardly be questioned that the banquet did its part in sharpening the discontent recently reported.