On Tuesday, at Geneva, Lord Cushendun contrived to make a
speech which was loyal to M. Briand in the sense that it did not unsay anything which M. Briand had said, but was nevertheless as different in manner from M. Briand's lecture as could be imagined. Lord Cushendun said that disarmament could not be achieved by passing resolutions, as it was a question of practical details. Article VIII of the Covenant, left it to each nation to judge what armaments it required for national safety. No precise criterion of measurement was possible, and therefore there was a most formidable difficulty in applying measurements, since all nations had different needs and were speaking in different terms. We have always admitted this difficulty. There is no common denominator. It is rather as though one should try to apply a single set of rules to such games as golf, cricket and football.
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