The special correspondent of the Times at the Hague has
some trenchant comments on the persistent efforts which have been made by certain British journalists to belittle the English delegates and disparage the British Foreign Office in connexion with the Conference. So far from their criticisms representing the truth, the Times correspondent asserts that "no delegation enjoys greater respect in all quarters at the Hague than the-British, and that none has worked harder or more efficiently in the cause of international peace, arbitra- tion, and mitigation of the horrors of war." Their energy and initiative were strikingly displayed in connexion with the " two most promising and important enterprises of the Con- ference—the permanent bench of Judges and the international Prize Court," and the writer reminds their detractors that if the British vcen on armaments disappointed extreme humanitarians, any attempt to apply constraint in any form to foreign Powers with regard to their armaments could hardly be regarded as a method of promoting international tranquillity and confidence. The secret of this dissatis- faction, we take it, has been that the British delegates have refused to adopt the methods of dealing with the strident type of journalist which Count Witte employed during the negotiations at Portsmouth.
