Mr. Henderson and M. Briand
Mr. Henderson has done notably well ; he has been tactful and invariably polite, yet quite clear and firm as to what he wanted. The popular myth of an amiable but rather ineffectual " Uncle Arthur " will have to be considerably 'modified. Mr. Snowden, Mr. Henderson, and Mr. W. Graham have turned out to be a powerful negotiating trio. By far the largest share of the praise has gone to Mr. Snowden, but we cannot help making the reservation that Mr. Snowden could still have done all that he did if he had practised Mr..Henderson's urbanity: No doubt Mr. Henderson was fortunate because the financial discussions acted as a lightning conductor and drew away most of the electricity from his own taSk. Nevertheless he deserves all the thanks he has received and rather more. Although Great Britain has made it plain that she will not in future be subject to the veto of France, there was in the end no loss of friendliness between the two nations. Mr. Henderson by the end of last week had, indeed, formed so high an opinion of M. Briand that he had reached the stage of being quite angry when M. Briand was attacked. Speaking to journalists before he left The Hague Mr. Henderson said :- " I have had a new opportunity to see M. Briand at work, and I want to say how deeply I appreciate the spirit which he and his colleagues have shown. He has made me see more clearly than I did before what he means by his policy of reconciliation and •understanding. If Europe survives the crisis which the War left, it will be in a great measure because of the courage and deter- mination which M. Briand has shown."
An unexpected tribute which has genuineness written on its simple face.
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