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ARMAMENT S
REDUCTION OF.
Naval Disarm- Lament,
Previous Reference: Cabinet 36 (28), Con- clusion 2.)
4. Lord Cushendun referred to the Anglo--French
proposals for Naval Disarmament which had been
communicated to the United States of America,
Italy end Japan for their observations before
presentation to the Preparatory Commission of the
League of Nations. He pointed out that, in view
of the leakage of an important French despatch
containing particulars of the Anglo-French pro-
posals, the question of publishing the latter
became of some importance. It had been ascertained
that the French Foreign Office favoured immediate
publication. A Note possibly a disagreeable
one from the United States Government might be
expected within the next few days. Lord Cushendun
explained that the proposals had been prepared for
the use of persons with intimate knowledge of the
question of Naval Disarmament and would require
careful editing to explain the circumstances in
which the present position had arisen.
In the course of a discussion of some length
the Cabinet were reminded, inter alia, that the
Geneva Naval Disarmament Conference was alleged to
have failed owing to the lack of diplomatic prepara-
tion beforehand. In the present instance every
•
effort had been made to prepare the way for an
Agreement, but the results in America had not been
fortunate.
The discussion revealed a disposition among
members of the Cabinet to adhere to the Anglo-French
proposals as a basis for discussion, even if they
were not acceptable to the United States of America.
There was general agreement also that, before
publishing the Note, it would be advisable to await
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