In June an important development took place in this Temporary
Commission. It was increased by the addition of a number of statesmen,
and, amongst others, of men who ought to have been on it long ago. Lord
Robert Cecil was added, and he at once proceeded to remedy what was a
real difficulty in Lord Esher's proposals. He put forward a plan for
providing security in the form, as the Assembly of the League had asked,
of a definite written proposal--really a brief treaty. The purport of
that treaty is included in the form of resolutions, which are roughly as
follows:--No scheme for the reduction of armaments can be effective
unless it is general; that in the present state of the world no
Government can accept the responsibility for a serious reduction of
armaments unless it is given some other equally satisfactory guarantee
of the safety of its country; such guarantee can only be found in a
general defensive agreement of all the countries concerned, binding them
all to come to the assistance of any one of them if attacked.
A general defensive pact, with a proviso! It is obviously unreasonable
to expect the States of the American continent to be ready to come over
at any moment to help in Europe. It is obviously unreasonable to expect
the States of Europe to bind themselves to come and fight in Asia.
Therefore, there was this proviso added that an obligation to come to
the assistance of the attacked country should be limited to those
countries which belonged to the same quarter of the globe. Thus, you
see, you are getting the obligation of the League into regional
application. Personally my own conviction is that this is the line upon
which many of the functions of the League will develop.
The main point of the situation as it is to-day is that you have got a
committee working out in detail a general pact, which when it is
formulated will be far more complete and satisfactory than the very
general and vague Clause 10 of the Covenant. We have reached the
position when practical proposals are beginning to emerge. What more is
wanted? How can we help on this work? You will have gathered from what I
said that it is my own conviction that with this problem of reduction of
armaments is so closely linked up the problem of economic reconstruction
and reparations that the whole ought to be taken together. I believe one
of the reasons why so little progress has been made is that the economic
problems have been entrusted, with the blessing of our and other
Governments, to perambulating conferences, while the disarmament problem
has been left solely to the League of Nations. I believe if you could
get the whole of these problems considered by one authority--and there
is one obvious authority--progress would be far more rapid.
There is another matter which concerns us as citizens--the attitude of
our own Government to this question. I was delighted to see recently an
announcement made by a Minister in the House of Commons that the
Government was seriously in favour of a reduction of armaments on a
great ratio. I was delighted to read the other day a speech, to which
reference has already been made, by the Prime Minister. We have had a
great many words on this question. The time has come for action, and
quite frankly the action of our Government in the past two years with
regard to this question has been neutral, and not always one of
benevolent neutrality. Our official representatives at Geneva have been
very careful to stress the difficulties, but up to the present I am
unaware that our Government has ever placed its immense resources as
regards information at the disposal of the one Englishman who has been
striving with all his power and knowledge to get a definite solution. I
believe there is going to be a change; I hope so. In any case, the best
thing we can do is to see that it is changed, and that Lord Robert Cecil
is not left to fight a lone battle.