3 DECEMBER 1927, Page 2

. Turning to arbitration Sir Austen Chamberlain - said that Great Britain

had led the world in willingness to submit vital questions to arbitration and abide by the .result. The ' Alabama' case, the destruction of the Hull fishing fleet by the Russian Fleet in .1998, the Alaska Boundary, the Mosul frontier—these were only some of the famous instances in which we had readily accepted arbitration. Deeds, not words, Counted. The reason why the Govern- ment . had not signed the " optional clause " was that the signature must be Imperial. But signature on behalf of the whole Empire would involve so many reservations that the pledge would be nugatory.- In -1924 Lord Haldane had examined the whole question 'and had reported hi this sense to the Cabinet.