British Question and French Answer The reply of the French
Government to Sir Samuel Hoare's question as to whether France would be prepared to support this country in the event of any attack on the British fleet in the Mediterranean before Article XVI of the Covenant was put into operation broadens out an ad hoc issue into a discussion of general principle. Since the vote of the League Council on Monday, declaring Italy to be exposed ipso facto as aggressor to any of the measures contemplated under Article XVI, the British question has ceased to be immediately relevant. But the general issue has not lost its importance. The sub. missions in the French document will no doubt be made the subject of a further note by this country, but the matter is eminently one to be discussed at leisure at Geneva—not between Britain and France alone—when the time comes for perfecting the machinery of the application of sanctions in light of the experience which will be gained in the next few months. The British Note dealt with a special situation which notoriously and visibly existed, but there' may well be cases in which a country puts itself prematurely or unnecessarily in " a state of preparation " to .carry out the measures of Article XVI, and it would not be desirable to affirm the principle that in every such ease the State in question is entitled to armed support from its fellow members.
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