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Commander-in-Chief to parade with the troops responsible
for the outrage and make a formal apology to the repre-
sent tives of the Powere concerned. Sir Austen Chamberlain
invited the Cabinet to note that the sanctions proposed
by the diplomatic representatives of the Powers at Peking
coincideo closely with those suggested by the Committee
of Chiefs of Staff. The letter, however, had pointed
out, in addition, that the British or International forces
Commanding the river bad it in their power to prevent
the further advance northward of the Cantonese forces
This proposal by prohibiting the passage of the Yangtse.
had also been made to him independently in the foreign
Office.
In this connection the Cabinet were reminded that
such action would do much to avert the risk of trouble
at Tientsin or Peking.
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs supported strongly the plea of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in favour of international action at the present juncture, and referred to symptoms of a tendency
on the part of certain nations once more to leave all the
odium of initiative and action to Great Britain while themselves deriving equal advantage therefrom.
A