NEWS OF THE WEEK M R. EDEN'S visits to Paris and
Rome appear to have achieved all that could possibly have been expected of them. His first task was to remove the cloud of suspicion created in both capitals by the Anglo- German naval agreement ; in Paris this had been made the more difficult by the outbursts of indignation in the Press. M. Laval had to conduct the talks at a moment when French opinion had been instructed that Great Britain's agreement with Germany amounted to an acknowledgement of the lapse of the Versailles Treaty, and secondly that its conclusion without full consultation with France and. Italy was a breach of the united front agreed on at Stresa.- Mr. Eden's first task therefore was to explain that his Government adhered to all the Stress undertakings ; : that if the rapid settlement with Germany had not been made, a favourable opportunity, which might never occur again, would have been missed, to the general disadvantage of Europe. M. Laval seems to have been satisfied on the main point, which concerns the future, namely, that Great Britain is anxious to go forward with France, Italy and Germany in seeking a settlement which should include not only an Air agreement, but an Eastern Pact and a Danubian Pact.
