The Treaty of Lausanne was ratified in . the House of
Commons on Wednesday, April 9th. Mr. Lloyd George made an impassioned speech against the Treaty. It was obviously sincere but characteristically inaccurate. Lord Curzon, in a letter to the Times of Monday, satisfactorily disposed of Mr. Lloyd George's two main allegations : (1) that the decision to invite the Greeks to Smyrna in 1919 was the result of Foreign Office and Dominion advice, and (2) that the Dominions were treated in an unprecedented Manner in the negotiation of the Lausanne Treaty. In considering the Treaty of Lausanne, it must be borne in mind that we were dealing with a very different Turkey from the Turkey of 1919. Immediately after the War we could have obtained practically any terms we wished. The failure to conclude a satisfactory peace at once was primarily due to Allied preoccupation with the Versailles Treaty, the disruption of Turkey herself, French secret dealings with her, and the in- decision of the United States with regard to the Armenian. Mandate. At Lausanne we were faced with a strong military Power, flushed with victory ; the Allies were patently and painfully disunited ; and the alternative to peace was a war which would. not have been tolerated in this country. Mr. Lloyd George is to be blamed for his recklessly persistent support. of the Greeks. In our opinion Lord-Curzon made the best possible Treaty in the circumstances.
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