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DICTATED

7, AUDLEY SQUARE , W.1.

15th January 1936.

Dear John,

Very many thanks for your letter of the 2nd., what a revolution
has taken place since then. How has Canada felt during this
League of Nations crisis? We have now had a month of conflicting
emotions, beginning with stupefaction at the Hoare-Laval proposals, followed
by intense alarm, then by an acute sense of shame. Afterwards we
felt stunned during the Ministerial crisis, and now there is a certain
dull benumbed sense of revival, though not yet of recovery. It has been
the most damnable month of my political life - so far as I am concerned,
the scheme for partitioning Abyssinia gave me a mental & moral shock
far worse than any I experienced during the War. For our honour seemed
to be impugned, which was never the case between ' 14 & ' 18. We were
assaulted by Finland, belaboured by Chile, lectured by Russia, mocked
by Hitler,- and not even a word of thanks from Mussolini, who in fact
made a rhetorical speech at Pontina about the Peace proposals, which for
a change produced a spirited protest from Laval.

The general opinion was that that crafty little peasant from
Auvergne over-reached Sam Hoare, by working on his fears of an Italian
coup de main, Hoare being a thoroughly tired man - worn out, one might
say, and on his way to a Swiss holiday. As always, it was an error of
judgment to negociate en route for recreation. He was bustled and distracted.
But to do him justice, he never expressed remorse for the proposals
themselves. His resignation speech in the House of Commons was