and in Moscow, but M. Rakovsky was now informed that it was not to be found in the records of the Foreign Office, and that Mr. Chamberlain had no intention of departing from Mr. MacDonald's decision, that the Note in question was one which the Government could not consent to receive.

On November 28 M. Rakovsky presented two letters in reply to the Notes addressed to him from the Foreign Office on November 21. The first expressed the regret of the Soviet Government at the rejection of the Anglo-Russian Treaties, and asserted that that Government had displayed the maximum of goodwill and of concessions in working out a basis of agreement, and therefore could not take any of the responsibility for the feeling of discontent which the decision of the British Government would cause in both countries. The second letter stated that the Soviet Government was inclined to consider the declaration issued by the Committee of Mr. MacDonald's Cabinet on November 4, that no "original document" had been seen by anyone, as destroying the grounds on which the accusation of bad faith had been based, and as an actual withdrawal of the accusation. It was therefore exceedingly surprised that the present British Government had found it possible completely to ignore the fact established by its predecessor, and that, after having declined the offer for an investigation of the document by an impartial court, it made vague statements, unsupported by evidence, that the "document" was genuine. The Soviet Government could not accept such unproven allegations. M. Rakovsky further went on to assert that there existed on the territory of Great Britain political organisations engaged in the fabrication of false documents concerning the Soviet Government, and expressed his regret that it should base political acts affecting the relations between the two countries on unverified documents emanating from doubtful sources, and so place those relations at the mercy of malevolent persons and organisations. As for the Third International, M. Rakovsky declared that this body was completely independent of the Soviet Government and could not be controlled by it.

In Home affairs the first act of the new Cabinet was to set up a Royal Commission on Food Prices, with Sir Auckland Geddes as Chairman, "to inquire into the conditions prevailing in the wholesale and retail trades in articles of food of general consumption so far as they affect prices, particularly having regard to the difference between the prices received by producers and the prices paid by consumers, and to report what action, if any, could usefully be taken." In making the announcement (November 21), Mr. Baldwin cautioned the public not to expect too much from the labours of the Commission, as prices of food depended largely on causes which the Government could not control.

If the first act of the new Government in foreign affairs had been to put an end to the Anglo-Russian rapprochement, its

His

second was to put an end to the status quo in Egypt, a step to which it was provoked by an outrage of a peculiarly dastardly character. On November 20 the Sirdar of the Sudan, Sir Lee Stack, was shot at and fatally wounded by a gang of assassins in the streets of Cairo. The British Government at once dispatched a Note through Lord Allenby stating that it considered this murder to be the natural outcome of a campaign of hostility to British rights and British subjects in Egypt, which the Government of that country had not discouraged. The Government had been warned of the consequences of failing to stop the campaign, and the murder of the Sirdar proved that they were unable or unwilling to protect foreign lives. Majesty's Government therefore required that the Egyptian Government should (1) present ample apology for the crime, (2) bring the criminals to justice, (3) forbid and suppress all popular political demonstrations, (4) forthwith pay a fine of 500,000Z., (5) order within twenty-four hours the withdrawal from the Sudan of all Egyptian officers and the purely Egyptian units of the army, (6) notify the competent department that the Sudan Government would increase the area to be irrigated at Gezira from 300,000 feddans to an unlimited figure as need might arise, (7) comply with certain demands of the British Government, separately specified, for the protection of foreigners. Failing immediate compliance, the Government threatened to take at once appropriate action to safeguard their interests in Egypt and the Sudan.

The next morning Zaglul replied to Lord Allenby that he would accept the demands relating to the Sirdar's murder-the first, second, and fourth-and also the third, requiring the suppression of political demonstrations. But the other three, which affected the sovereignty of Egypt, he rejected. Within an hour and a half Lord Allenby rejoined with a Note stating that, in view of Zaglul's refusal to comply with the fifth and sixth requirements in the British Note, instructions were being sent to the Sudan Government to effect the withdrawal from the Sudan of Egyptian officers and army units, and that they were at liberty to irrigate the Gezira area to an unlimited extent. A demand was made that the indemnity promised. should be paid the next day before noon. This was done, but as no further move was made by Zaglul, Lord Allenby ordered the Customs Offices at Alexandria to be seized, while ships of the Mediterranean fleet were sent to Egyptian waters. Zaglul Pasha thereupon resigned, and was succeeded by Ziwar Pasha, who soon afterwards accepted all the British demands.

The British action was the subject of much cynical comment in the Press of foreign countries, finding support in Italy alone on the somewhat uncomplimentary ground that it justified that country's action in regard to Greece in the previous year. On November 25 the Independent Labour Party issued a strongly worded protest against making a political assassination the

occasion for asserting new Imperialistic claims. Mr. MacDonald, speaking in his constituency on November 28, said that the Government's handling of the affair had done the country great damage in the eyes of the world. It was a mistake to mix up just and proper indignation against murder with certain political matters that could only be settled by agreement. The democratic genius and experience of Labour would have led it to handle the situation in such a way that an agreement would have issued and not a successful ultimatum. On the other hand, Mr. MacDonald agreed that it was impossible for Britain to consent to Egypt treating the Sudan as if it were her own property, because it was not. He hoped Great Britain would ask the League of Nations for a mandate making her responsible for the administration of the Sudan.

In defence of the Government, Mr. Amery, speaking at Birmingham, asserted that the assassination of the Sirdar had merely hastened an assertion of British rights and responsibilities which was long overdue. He thought that all sane Egyptians, and the rest of the world, recognised that the consequences of their firm action would be to bring back peace, sobriety, and truly responsible government to a country which for the last few years had been dominated by a handful of irresponsible agitators. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, on December 3, referring to a suggestion that what had occurred might be made a matter of inquiry by the League of Nations, said that clearly this matter did not come within the provisions of the Covenant which invited or suggested interference by the League; nevertheless he would gladly give the Council of the League any information they desired on the subject. He went on to quote passages from Mr. MacDonald's dispatch to Lord Allenby after the breakdown of the negotiations with Zaglul in October, charging Egypt with disloyalty to the status quo, and stating that the conditions created by her attitude could not be allowed to continue.

On November 25 the Home Secretary, Sir W. JoynsonHicks, received a deputation from the National Citizens' Union on the subject of alien immigration. Lord Askwith, who introduced the deputation, said that in 1923 the total number of aliens who left the country exceeded the number of those who entered by 2,778, and expressed the fear that in the first nine months of 1924 things had been very different. The Home Secretary assured the deputation that there was not any laxity on the part of his staff in dealing with alien immigration. In the first nine months of this year 321,451 aliens had been given leave to come in, 1827 had been refused and 311,576 had left the country, leaving a balance, from their point of view, on the wrong side of nearly 10,000. His inquiries went to show, however, that the immigrants came in the summer and the early part of the year, and went largely out in the autumn and winter months, so that the balance might not improbably be

reduced by December. There were now 272,862 registered aliens in the country-a few hundreds less than in 1922 and 1923. Efforts, he said, were being made to do away with the visa system in certain countries, but the Home Office regarded it as a most important barrier, and he hoped it would not be broken. down for some years to come.

On November 27 the Government announced its decision to summon in the near future a Conference representing landowners, farmers, and workers with a view to arriving at an agreement on the main features of a national agricultural policy. The Conference would be asked to consider what measures could be taken (1) to maintain and (2) to increase the area of arable land in England and Wales, and by what further measures the economic maximum production of food from all the agricultural land of the country could be stimulated. The Ministry of Agriculture announced a few days later (December 1) that the Conference would consist of six representatives of landowners, farmers, and workers respectively, to be nominated by various organisations representative of each interest. Meanwhile it had received a communication from the National Farmers' Union inquiring whether the Government still accepted the view expressed by Mr. Bonar Law, and again by Mr. Baldwin in 1923, that a fall in the production of foodstuffs could be prevented only in one of two ways-by a subsidy or by protection, and, if the Government contemplated a subsidy, what was the limit to which they would go; further, whether in the event of a tariff or a subsidy being enacted, a better guarantee could be given than in 1920, when the Government's promise to farmers was repudiated after six months. The Minister of Agriculture replied that the position of the agricultural industry had greatly improved since the farmers went begging for help from Mr. Law and Mr. Baldwin, and that in present circumstances the prospects of the Conference would be seriously prejudiced by any attempt to prejudge or restrict its deliberations in the manner suggested. The correspondence continued for some little time, but in the end the Union consented to participate in the Conference.

Shortly after his accession to office, Mr. A. Chamberlain was approached by the historian, Dr. Seton-Watson, with a request to throw open the archives of the Foreign Office to students to a date considerably later than at present allowed, or alternatively to publish an official collection of documents relating to the Great War on lines similar to the series which was being issued by the German Government, and which, with its unanswered allegations on the subject of the origin of the War, was doing great injury to British reputation. Mr. Chamberlain in his reply, dated November 28, stated that Mr. MacDonald had already during his term of office given instructions which substantially met Dr. Seton-Watson's suggestions, and it only remained for him to confirm them. He therefore informed him that, as soon

as the consent of the self-governing Dominions had been secured, the records of the Foreign Office would be thrown open to research down to 1878, instead of 1860, as hitherto, and that a collection of documents bearing on the origin of the Great War would be edited for the Foreign Office by Mr. G. P. Gooch and Mr. H. W. V. Temperley, who, it was hoped, would be in a position to begin work at an early date.

On November 29 the negotiations for a Commercial Treaty between Great Britain and Germany, which had been going on for some time, were brought to a successful termination in London. Germany granted Great Britain most-favoured-nation treatment, while the British Government undertook to introduce. a Bill in Parliament as soon as possible to remove all restrictions still imposed on Germans as ex-enemy aliens, so that no discrimination should be made between them and other foreigners. The question of the 26 per cent. reparation levy on imports was left open, the British Government refusing to consider any proposal contrary to the principle of the levy itself or to the rules of the Dawes Report. An obligation was given to remove restrictions on imports and exports in both countries. The Treaty was signed on December 2 by the Government on behalf of Great Britain only, though the Dominions, India, and the other parts of the British Empire were accorded the right of adhering to the Treaty at any time.

On December 2 Liberal members of the House of Commons, to the number of 40, met to elect a sessional Chairman. A motion was brought forward that, pending Mr. Asquith's return to Parliament, the Chief Whip should act as Chairman at party meetings. To this an amendment was moved that Mr. Lloyd George should be appointed Chairman. The motion was finally defeated by 26 votes to 9, and the amendment carried by 26 votes to 7. On the next day, at a party meeting, a resolution was adopted, with one dissentient, that the Liberal Party, recognising its duty to act as a Liberal Opposition, should resist uncompromisingly every motion or measure which did not accord with Liberal principles, from whichever quarter it was proposed. At the close of this meeting it was announced that a number of members of the Liberal Parliamentary Party, consisting chiefly of those who had opposed Mr. Lloyd George, had formed themselves into a Radical group, without however seceding from the main body, and would work and act together in furthering Liberal principles in the House of Commons and the country. Mr. Runciman became Chairman of the new group.

On December 3 the Labour Parliamentary Party also met to elect its officers for the session. There was some plain speaking on the subject of the Zinovieff letter, which was still held, in spite of the Government's finding, to be a "palpable forgery," and the publication of which, with the Foreign Office reply, was calculated by most speakers to have cost the party some fifty seats at the election. Mr. MacDonald was re-elected