18 SEPTEMBER 1915, Page 12

MR. BALFOUR ON GERMAN NAVAL METHODS. [To TRH EDITOR OF

THE " SPECTATOR."]

SIR,—The last number of the Spectator contains an unfor- tunate misstatement. In the note on Mr. Balfour's letter (p. 323) he is quoted as saying that, " though our losses from Submarines have been formidable, British mercantile tonnage is at this moment greater," &c. What he did say was that, "while the losses inflicted upon German submarines have been formidable; -British mercantile tonnage," &o. No doubt the editor's attention has been called to this error, but it is as well to make sure. It is just the sort of mistake the Ger- mans would twist into an admission of formidable loss by