7 SEPTEMBER 1907, Page 1

We venture to predict that when the Agreement is published

it will be seen that while neither statesman has sacrificed the interests of his country, the foundation has been laid for improved relations between Russia and Britain. "Foundation" is indeed the appropriate word. In Agreements of this kind it is not so much the immediate settlement that is beneficial as the fact that an opportunity is given for improved relations to grow up. An example is to be found in the entente cordiale with France. The specific provisions of the Agreement, though no doubt important per se, have been eclipsed by the general sense of friendship and security that has grown out of the entente. Our hope is that there may be a similarly happy growth of good feeling between Russia and Britain. It remains to be said that France has throughout the negotiations acted with sympathy and discretion towards both her friends, and that the conclusion of the Agreement is regarded in Paris with the utmost satisfaction.