IV. 
(Zu Seite 264.) 
Meinungsäußerungen englischer Politiker aus dem Jahre 1921 
Aus einem Brief von E. D. Morel, geschrieben kurz nach seiner ersten 
schweren Erkrankung. 
Cherry Croft, Dec. 3. 1921. 
. AII that 1 can say is, that in my opinion an unequivocal 
declaration on the part of Germany in regard to Belgium would 
have been decisive. I am awfully sorry 1 can’'t go into further 
details now, it is physically impossible and this is the last letter 
I1 shall write for the next three months 
I am very sorry 1 cannot develop my own views at greater 
length — because interesting and valuable as the memoranda 
of my colleagues are, they do not, in my opinion, cover the whole 
ground — and I don’'t wholly agree with them.. 
Finally in my opinion Germany held all the cards — when 
she sat at the conference table at Brest-Litowsk. A generous 
Peace of conciliation and understanding with Russia then, 
Ccoupled with a positive statement with regard to Belgium, the 
whole flung in the face of the world with a great gesture; would 
have reestablished her moral position in the world, and exploded- 
à mine under British public opinion (Labour especially) already 
badly shaken. 
Memorandum 5 Charles Treveljan / M. P. / 
The object which I pursued during the war was the formation 
of public opinion. Consequently I did not follow or care to try 
to influence privately the views of the governmental people. 
Ifelt sure that they would respond to any formidable growth 
0f a feeling of the necessity and possibility of a “'peace by nego- 
tiation''. Neither we nor Prince Max were working either "on 
illusions or facts’''. We were working to create a new situation 
which, as facts went, never came into existence. But that did 
not make us wrong in our estimate of what might have been. 
It makes it however in my opinion impossible of proof that our 
bolicy was ever near success. The secret of how near or how 
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