A meeting of protest organized by the Persia Committee was
held at the London Opera House on Monday night. Sir Thomas Barclay, who presided, repudiated the suggestion that the meeting was anti-Russian unless it was anti-Russian to insist on Russia's respecting her treaty engagements towards Great Britain. Professor E. G. Browne, who moved the principal resolution, emphatically denied that the present crisis was due to the establishment of constitutional govern- ment in Persia ; the Persians had been most cruelly treated, and to say that it was now impossible to maintain the integrity of Persia was a confession that we were degenerate descendants of much worthier ancestors. Mr. H. F. B. Lynch said he was all for a good understanding with Russia, but such an under- standing could not be bought at the price of British honour and of the vital interests of this country ; and Mr. Ramsay MacDonald asserted that the folly and shortsightedness of our Foreign Office were the cause of all the trouble. Mr. Ponsonby, alluding to the Parliamentary delegation to Russia, protested against the House of Commons being used by the Foreign Office to support and fortify Russian policy in Persia ; and other speakers, including Mr. J. S. Fletcher, a Conservative M.P., supported the resolution, which urged the Government to preserve Persian integrity and independence, and was passed by acclamation.
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