What the German Press is really capable of when adequately inspired may be seen from a comparison of the semi-official organs the German Government published on Monday, August 31st, in places so far apart as Hamburg, Frankfurt-on-Main, and Wiesbaden. In these papers, and in identical phraseology, appeared the "report" of a speech alleged to have been delivered by Mr. John Burns in the Albert Hall, London, on August 14th. It will be remembered that Mr. Burns, with Lord Morley and Mr. Trevelyan, withdrew from the Government early in the month, and the fabricated speech was officially given out in Germany as Mr. Burns's own explanation of his reasons for resigning. Even in its translated form the speech is remarkable in its way as showing that it must have in the first place been written by someone who was very familiar with the oratorical style of the right honourable gentleman; and attempts were made here and there to imitate Mr. Burns's occasional tendency to lapse into epigram and vigorous short sentences. For example, the phrase: "I will give it as my firm opinion that England's greatness shows itself in time of peace; her weakness in time of war," is certainly delivered in Mr. Burns's best vein, however greatly the sentiment may differ from his ideas. There would, of course, be no point in quoting from this speech, which, as was quite obvious when the English translation made its appearance, had never been delivered; but one passage should be given as an example of German thoroughness: "We destroyed Napoleon's fleet at Trafalgar; a few days later Napoleon gained his most glorious (sic) victory at Austerlitz and brought Europe to her knees. Of what use was our overthrow of Napoleon at sea compared with his unexampled successes on land? We merely pricked him with a pin--he overthrew Europe untroubled by our victories." The argument here, it will be noticed, is exceedingly plausible; and the attributing of such an idea to Mr. Burns might almost appear to be convincing to Germans and Austrians who knew little of his eight years' record as an administrator and a great deal about his record as a Labour leader. Once again, too, there is an attempt at Mr. Burns's vigorous style. The full "speech" was reported in the English Press on September 7th, and was, of course, immediately repudiated on being shown to Mr. Burns. If the German Press, however, can be used occasionally for reporting things that people did not say, it can be used with equal facility for suppressing important statements actually made. For example, a Reuter telegram from Copenhagen on September 7th quoted a statement taken from the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_, and published at Copenhagen by the German semi-official news agency. This statement dealt with Sir Edward Grey's declaration regarding his conversations with Prince Lichnowsky, the former German Ambassador to Great Britain, made in the House of Commons on August 28th: