Mr. Pretyman, while approving of the scheme, the credit for
which he attributed to the prescience of Lord Strathcona, criticized its finance ; and Mr. Ramsay MacDonald applauded the Government for standing out against the monopoly of the Oil Trusts. On the other hand, Mr. Samuel, one of the direc- tors of the Shell Company, vigorously denied the charge of "squeezing," and described Mr. Churchill's attack as unjusti. Sable. Mr. Ponsonby, holding that our policy of strengthening Persia had been a dismal failure in the past, thought that the new deal only brought us a step nearer to the partition of Persia. The resolution ratifying the agreement was carried by 254 to 18, a vote which in no way represents the balance of argument or the adverse criticisms in the Press on both sides. The political and strategical difficulties and dangers of the scheme were, we feel bound to add, most unconvincingly dealt with by the Foreign Secretary. We are surprised that the Government do not encourage the production of oil from English coal. If they promised to spend, say, £100,000 every year in the purchase of such oil, they would call the necessary plant into existence. The extra security which would be thus achieved is too obvious to need further comment.
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