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(THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC i.'U,JESTY'S GOVERNMENT) . S E C R E T . Copy No. C A B I N E T
34 (27). Meeting of the Cabinet to be held at No. 10, Downing Street, S.W.1., on WEDNESDAY, May 25th, 1927, at 11.30 a.m. \ G E J D A. THE - SITUATION IN CHINA.
2.
(if required,' T H E F O R T H C O M I N G C O N F E R E N C E ON R E D U C T I O N
LB.tITx.TI O N O F N A V A L A R M A M E N T S . ­
AND (Reference Cabinet 20 (27) Conclusion 3 ) . Minutes of the 227th Meeting of the Committee of imperial Defence. ( C P . 159 (27) - circulated herewith), 3.
THE AUDIT ( L Q C A L AUTHORITIES ) B I L L . (Reference Cabinet 30 (27) Conclusion 6 ) . Memorandum by the Minister of Health. ( C P . 160 (27) - circulated herewith) 4.
LONDON SQUARES.
PROPOSED ROYAL COMMISSION. Memorandum by the Minister of Health. . ( C P . 158 (27) - already circulated). (Signed)
M.P.A. H A N K E Y , Secretary, Cabinet. 2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1. 23rd May, 1927. (THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS BRITANNIC MA JE ST Y' S GOVERN! ENT) . S S C R
E T.
-
C A B I N E T
COPY NO: 54 (27). MEETING OP THE CABINET to be held at. KeVlO, Downing Street, S.W;i*, on WEDNESDAY; fay 25th, 1927^ at 11.30 a.m. ' ' ADDITIONAL ITEM TO AGENDA, 5
*-
THE INDIAN -HE&jB BRIGADE OP THE SHANGHAI
DEFENCE FOR^E.
!
(To be raised b y the Chancellor of the Exchequer). (Signed)
M.P.A. HAN KEY, Secretary, Cabinet. 2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1, 24th May, 1927. (THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY 0? HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT). COPY NO: S E C R E T .
C A B I N E T
34
(27)
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held at 1 0 , Downing Street, Soli,!,, on Wednesday, May 25th, 1927, at 11,30 a m
a
0 P R E S E N T : -
The Right Hon, Stanley Baldwin, I!. P., Prims Minister
(In the Chair) The Right Hon, Sir Austen ' Chamber lain, K.G.-, Mc P , Secretary of State f or For e i gn A ff air s The Right Hon. The Earl of Balfour, K.G., O.H. , Lord President of tiae Council, The Right Hon. Viscount Cave, G C , M , G . , Lord Chancellor e
The Right lion, W , S Churchill, C.H., M.P. Chancellor of the Exchequer. 0
e
The
Right Hon, Sir William' Joynson-Hicks, B t , II. F,, Secretary of State for Home Affairs. 0
0
The Right Hon. LoS. Amery, M . P . , Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and Secretary of State for the Colonies,, The Right H o n
; " Sir L Horthington-Evans, Bt., C B . E . , ;M.P., Secretary of State for War. The Right Hon. The Earl of Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, The Right lion. Sir Samuel Hoare, B t , C y H . G ,
M . P , , Secretary of State for Air, The Right Hon. Sir John Gilmour, Bt., D.S.O., K.P,, Secretary of State for Scotland. The Right Hon. W. C * Br idgeman,, M P., First Lord of the Admiralty. The Right Hon. Sir Philip Cunliffe-LIster, K, B . E . , M . C , M , P . , President of the Board of.Trade.
The Right Hon, Neville Chamberlain, M ? . , Minister of Health. '
The Right Hon. W' E. Guinness, D.S.O,, M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. The Right Hon. Lord Eustace Percy, H.P.. President of the Board of Education. The Right Hon. Sif" Arthur St eel-Ma it land, Bt. 11. P., Minister of Lib our. The Right Hon. ^
Viscount Peel, G.B.E., First Commissioner of Forks, The Right Hon. Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, K.C.,, Chancellor of the Duchy of Laneaster. e
6
p
0
0
c
0
The Right Hon. Sir Douglas Hogg, K.C., M, P., Attorney-General.
;
lo
In regard to the request made in the House of Commons on the previous day for additional material in connection with the severance of diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs informed the Cabinet that in the course of the forthcoming Debate he proposed to say that the Government were in possession of a large mass of material illustrating unfriendly activities of Soviet Russia, but that they did not propose to produce any additional secret information beyond a few documents which he intended to publish before the Debate, and that they based their claim to approval of their policy on documents already published. In regard to the general question he proposed to recall the history of the Trading the various protests made against Agreement:
it, for example, Mr Lloyd George's protest Six -JKvenvt-ks within felvo 'wcmhc of the conclusion of the Agreement, against its violation in many respects;
T
Lord Curzon s protest of 1923;
of last February.
his own protest He intended to point out that within five weeks of the last protest the Soviet Government were engaged in their old practices.
In reply to the suggestion that before breaking off the Government ought to have discussed the matter further with the Soviet representative, he proposed to point to the futility of discussions after so many
protests,
and
to
quote
in
particular the falsehoods of the Soviet He would Government in regard to Borodin.
charge the Soviet Government with hostile instructions to their Minister-In Peking, and with the maintenance of schools of anti-British propaganda at Moscow and Tashkend.
He
proposed also to mention the hostility shown to the Leagues of Nations at the recent Economic Conference at Geneva, as well as their hostility to the Locarno policy.
In
all this he would "base himself on material already produced.
Sir Austen Chamberlain proposed also to decline to say how the information came in the Government s possession. l
The Cabinet approved the line which the Foreign Secretary proposed to take, and suggested that there would be advantages in not closing the door too definitely to further possible disclosures at some future date. 2.
The attention of the Cabinet was drawn to the financial aspects of the retention of the Indian Mixed Brigade of the Shanghai Defence Force.
In the case of the British portion of that Force the cost, apart from incidental expenses, is only the difference of maintaining them in Shanghai instead of at their normal stations.
In the case of the Indian Mixed Brigade, however, the whole burden falls upon the British tax-payer, and their cost is three or four times as great -as that of the British troopso The Cabinet agreed:­
(a) That three of the ships which had brought to the Far East the last British Brigade of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force and had not, ye^ started their­
homeward voyage, should be retained at Hong-Kong for a week or, if necessary, longer, in case the rapidly changing events in China should render possible the withdrawal of the Indian Mixed Brigadeo (b) That the Cabinet Committee on China (for details See Cabinet 37 (25), Conclusion 2 ) , should meet before the next meeting of the Cabinet to. consider (in consultation with the Chiefs of Staff as required), the following points:­
(1) The possible withdrawal of the Indian Mixed Brigade; (ii) The effect of recent develop­
ments on the Government's policy in regard to Peking and Tientsin. REDUCTION AND LIMITATION OP" NAVAL ARMA-
MENTS. 3. The Cabinet had before them draft provisional Minutes of the 337th Meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence, held on The forthdoroing Conference at Geneva. May 2 0 , 1927, in regard to the forthcoming Conference at Geneva with representatives of (Previous Reference: Cabinet SO (37), Con­
clusion 3.) the Governments of the United States of America and Japan on the subject of Naval Disarmament. For reasons of secrecy, the particulars of the Admiralty's proposals were not printed with these provisional Minutes (Paper C.P.-159
(37))
The First Lord of the Admiralty gave the Cabinet full particulars of the Admiralty's proposals. A short discussion took place in regard to the use o f torpedoes from aircraft and the related question of the size of torpedoes, which had been discussed at the recent meetings at Geneva of the League of Nations Preparatory Commission for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments.
The question was shown to be rather complicated, and there was general agreement that it would be desirable^ if possible, to omit discussions on the question of the size of torpedoes and their use from aircraft at the "forthcoming Conference. The Cabinet approved the following recommendations of the Committee of Imperial Defence:­
(a) The adoption of the Admiralty's proposals as the basis of the British Delegation's negotia­
tions at the forthcoming Conference at Geneva, and that the British Delegates should be given a reasonable latitude in regard to details. (b) That the Dominion Representatives should be invited to attend a ­
preliminary Conference in London to be held during the week immedi­
ately preceding the date fixed for the Conference at Geneva. -5­
y 4
.
The Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by tiie Minister of Health urging that the Second Reading of the Audit (Local Authorities) Bill should be passed this Session, and that the Second Reading should be taken before Whitsuntide (Paper C .P -160 (27) ) .
t
o
The Prime Minister stated that he had arranged to discuss with the Chief Whip, the same afternoon the whole of the Parliamentary, pro­
gramme,, including the arrangements for the Autumn-
Pending this enquiry h e could give no positive undertaking, but he promised to do his best to secure a Second Reading of the Audit (Local Authorities) Bill before Whitsuntide. LONDON SQUARES.
Proposed Royal
Commission. 5. The Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by the Minister of Health proposing a Royal Commission with Terms of Reference on the . following lines:­
"To inquire and report on the Squares and similar open spaces existing in the area of the administrative county of London, with special reference to the conditions on which., they are held and used and the desira­
bility of their preservation as open spaces, and to recommend whether any or all of them should be permanently safeguarded against any use detrimental to their character as open spaces, and, if so, by what means and on what terms and conditions
1 1
0
(Paper C P . - 1 5 8
(27)). The Cabinet approved the above proposal. 2 , Whitehall Gardens, S.W,1,
May £ 5 , 1927.