8 
connection, I will conclude by telling you a little incident in 
the surrender of the German Fleet. You will remember that 
directly after the Armistice all the German submarines were 
surrendered to us, and some 120 were navigated by German 
crews to Harwich and taken over by British submarine crews, 
Before actually taking over the vessels they were carefully 
examined by our people, accompanied by Germans, to ensure 
that no booby traps were left in them. (Laughter) A 
British Petty Officer, having completed the inspection, turned 
to the German Petty Officer who had accompanied him, and, 
pointing to the boat which was to take him to the ship 
returning to Germany, said: “ All right, Fritz, you can go.” 
The German Petty Officer, who was under some emotion, 
said: “I tell you what I think of the British Fleet,” and 
spat into the sea. The British Petty Officer said nothing, 
The German then said : “1 tell you what I think of your 
Beatty,” and again spat into the sea. The British Petty 
Officer said; “All right, Fritz, I quite understand your 
feelings, but don’t spit into our sea again,” (Much laughter.) 
That remark, I think, has a wider significance than the gallant 
author perhaps intended, (Loud Cheers.) 
THE COMMONWEALTH OF BRITISH NATIONS. 
The DUKE oF DEVONSHIRE, K.G., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O. 
(Secretary of State for the Colonies), who received a very 
cordial welcome on rising to propose the toast® of ““ The 
Commonwealth of British Nations,” said: Mr. President, 
Your Highness, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, in the 
drafting of the Toast List I presume that the President, and 
those who are associated with him, endeavoured to place on 
the list a number of toasts which they considered were most. 
appropriate for the occasion; and I shall ask you to consider 
for a moment the title of the Toast which is entrusted to me 
this evening, The Commonwealth of British Nations. If we 
throw our minds back to ten or a few more years ago, in all 
probability those who were responsible for conveying the 
sentiments of a great gathering of this character to our Guests 
to-night would have adopted some other phraseology, This 
term, “Commonwealth of British Nations” hag assumed: 
a definite place in our political development. (Cheers.) It 
is not the mere choice of a phrase, or catch-word, but 
it represents a definite principle and a definite ideal. We 
are met here to-night as the representatives not merely of 
British nations but of free British nations, (Cheers.) We 
meet in Downing Street and in Whitehall as partners jointly 
responsible for various portions of the Dominions. The ideal