In urging that Foreign Ministers should revert to the Old
Diplomacy, as conducted habitually through Ambas- sadors, and forgo the new practice of frequent personal meetings at Geneva or elsewhere, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst raises many interesting questions. On the face of it negotiations through intermediaries are hardly likely to be more satisfactory than conversations face to face, though in the former case there is the distinct advan- tage that letters or minutes pass and are there perman- ently for reference. But I could justify the personal meetings on adequate authority. Take for example this : " I had several opportunities of discussing with M. Isvolsky the various questions of foreign policy in which our two countries are chiefly interested, and I cannot help thinking that this direct exchange of views between the two Foreign Offices will be beneficial
and facilitate the solution of most of our pending questions."
The writer is Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, then Sir Charles Hardinge, Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office. He was at the time (June, 1908) visiting Reval, in -attendance on King Edward.
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