News of the Week
:Reparations Y far the most welcome news of the week has been the triumph of Mr. Snowden at The Hague. It is true that he has not obtained all that he demanded, but his _success is in some ways the greater for that, because he has succeeded in controlling himself and has kept an admirable perspective. He has refrained from causing the break- down of the Conf4orence merely in order to' get the last fragment of his claim, just though that claim was. He recognizes that it is not wise, even if it is possible, to take the highest line of logic or legal right when the negotiations are with men who represent a myriad of various interests and the workings of whose minds can never be wholly intelligible to those who are not of their nationality. In fine, he has shown sufficient reverence for the truth that money was always of small moment in comparison with the great issues which lay behind and which depended upon a friendly decision at The Hague. Mr. Snowden has indeed done wonderfully well to have got about pighty per cent. of his financial demands while saving the Conference and very plainly emphasizing the two great principles that British policy is not in French leading strings and that the recommendations of experts appointed for a special and limited purpose are not those of plenipotentiaries. We hope, however, that impolite language will not be mistaken for an essential part of firmness as a result of these transactions. Mr. Snowden would have placed the mark of brilliance on his policy if he had added a suaviter to his fortiter.
