This nerveless behaviour of the British delegation is unaccountable, especially
as, with a little leadership, there would probably have been enough support from Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States, as well as from progressive small nations like Holland, Sweden. and Norway. The word " reduction " seems to have been buried when M. Litvinoff had made his usual challenging speech. What an exhibition the delegates of the Great Powers are giving before the representative of Soviet Russia ! We know that their preoccupation is to produce in outline a Convention which can run the gauntlet of a full Disarmament Conference, but we did not expect psychological considerations to be quite forgotten. The Convention is a colourless thing that can appeal to no Government. It has no courage, no dignity. It is, in the words of Count Bernstorff, " not worth the ink in which it is written." It will increase scepticism. Any false bargain with France for bringing her and Italy into the London Naval Treaty would probably arouse opposition here as violent as that excited by the Anglo-French Naval Compromise in 1928. No wonder that M. Leon Blum said recently that " it is no use waiting upon the sluggish and evasive action of diplomatists and technicians." The Socialist Party in France has begun an extensive poster campaign for genuine disarmament. As for the Government here, they seem to be sounding their own death-knell.
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