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The Admiralty's opinion was that, whereas we

should have arguments to justify the cruiser

strength necessary for national security and to

criticise the proposals of other Powers, it was not possible to devise a precise formula which could be universally applied. Length of communi-

cations itself, for example, was no criterion of

the value and essential nature of the trade to

the life of a nation, nor did it indicate the

extent of its vulnerability. All that could be

done usefully was for each country to state its requirements in cruisers in the situation as it existed today, and to be prepared to justify their claim in argument. We justified our clain on a number of factors, including the length of commu- nications, the volume of trade, the nature of the trade and the geographical position of the trade route in relation to other Naval Powers whose relative naval strength could not be ignored in this connection. Sir Charles Madden quoted, in conclusion, the following extract from a Memorandum by the First Lord (Paper P.R.A. (27) 50:-

"For these reasons it would surely be better policy to abandon, at any rate for the time, the attempt to draw up careful and detailed formulae, which have hitherto proved impossible to reconcile with the varying needs of the different Nations.

Mr Kellogg's invitation to make a Multilateral Treaty offers the oppor- tunity of convincing public opinion that we are as much opposed to war as any other Nation, if we give a ready and generous response to it.

Is not this the moment to desist from attempts to devise mathematical tables, to avoid the risk of returning

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