[Enclosure]
Statement by the British Prime Minister
(MacDonald) at
Lossiemouth, August 20, 1929
General Dawes came up to exchange views with me upon a message from
Washington which I am studying, as it, with one I sent from here
shortly after my arrival, marks a distinct advance in our
conversations. We have been working all the time at the problems
which have hitherto baffled the representatives of both
countries—as, for instance, at the Geneva Naval Conference—of how to
reconcile three positions: American claims for parity, which we
admit; British necessities, which have no relation at all with
American building (but which are determined by our relations to, and
responsibilities in, the rest of the world); and the desire, common
to both Governments, to reduce armaments.
If the exchange of views and arguments which have taken place are
ever published, it will be seen that these questions have been
discussed with great frankness, the very best of good will, and an
increasing understanding of the position of both sides. Everything
has been under review, from the composition and effects of a
yardstick to the function of police cruisers; and the composition of
fleets, from first-class battleships to submarines, has been
surveyed. Everything at the moment is tentative, and it would only
mislead the public if trial suggestions and proposals were
disclosed.
We are examining everything that promises to be helpful. A good deal
of hampering undergrowth has been cut away, and we are up against
hard realities, with some valuable agreements of a general character
behind them. Both of us are fully aware, however, that no agreement
between us two can carry us very far unless other Powers agree, and
that conditions all our work. A wide conference—say, a resumption of
the Washington Conference before the date now fixed for it—is at the
back of our minds all the time.
