Yet the draft of the Note followed Mr. MacDonald about
the country for six days. He could surely have arranged that the documents dealing with such a tremendously important matter should be sent to him immediately at an appointed place. Any other Foreign Secretary would have done that. According to Mr. MacDonald's own account, he practically rewrote the Note when he re- ceived it on October 23rd ; he turned a comparatively mild missive into a hot and strong reproach. When the Foreign Office received this revised draft they immedi- ately published it. It is obvious to us that they acted with the utmost loyaltytoMr. MacDonald, and in essential compliance with his instructions, since they had satisfied themselves that the Zinovieff letter was authentic. Even Mr. MacDonald's political interests were favoured by the action of the Foreign Office, for the fact that he wrote very strongly to M. Rakovsky has helped him and not injured him with his countrymen.
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