SIR,—Lord Perth has been good enough to send me in
advance a copy of his fresh letter to you. It may be convenient if I answer it for simul- taneous publication. Lord Perth admits that he did not recommend to Ministers the course that he suggested to me. He therefore did not feel strongly on the point. He was right. Seen in proper perspective it is obviously pointless to argue whether Mussolini would have behaved sanely had he received his warning before or after the inducement to be sane, i.e., agreement on Austria. In fact, he got both. If he had had either morals or common sense he would not have gone into Abyssinia ; but he hadn't, so he did. In a trivial attempt to exonerate himself Mussolini then suggested that he might have been good if he had received one of his many warnings some hours or days earlier. Lord Perth seems now to adopt that view. That is 'to make excuse for Mussolini. There
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