. In the House of Commons on Thursday, December 20th,
Sir Austen Chamberlain repeated at greater length what he had said before about the conversations at Lugano. What had been done by France, Germany, and Great Britain was " tentative and explanatory, pre- paratory to the negotiations which they hoped eventually might lead them to an agreement." The policy of the Government was to bring about the evacuation of the Rhineland as soon as possible. lie deprecated all questions designed to make him declare himself a sup- porter of " a particular French thesis or a particular German thesis." The influence of Great Britain depended upon her independent point of view, and if he were driven into the mistake of taking sides Great Britain would be all the less likely to secure an early evacuation. * * *
