Lord Cecil of Chelwood will be head of the British delegation to Geneva at the forthcoming meetings of the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations, it is announced here to-day.
Lord Reading, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, is unable, much to his regret, to go to Geneva, it is explained (as has already been foreshadowed). He will be engaged in London with Ministerial colleagues in preparing the Government’s proposals for dealing with the financial situation.
Fortunately, the “Manchester Guardian” comments in an editorial, in Lord Cecil Britain has a worthy leader. No Englishman has a longer or a finer connection with the League. He will take with him to Geneva unsurpassed personal prestige, but he cannot, unhappily, carry quite the official influence which was Mr. Henderson’s. After all, he is not Foreign Secretary. On vital questions the decisions must be made in Whitehall this year and not in Geneva. That is the price we have to pay for the change of Government which has made the new Foreign Secretary’s presence and counsel necessary in England. Because Lord Reading cannot go to Geneva the Council and the Assembly will be robbed of some of their importance. New decisions of first-class importance may be out of the question for this year.
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