The British proposal was to invite all of the different governments now at war within what used to be the Russian Empire, to a truce of God, to stop reprisals and outrages and to send men here to give, so to speak, an account of themselves.  The Great Powers would then try to find a way to bring some order out of chaos.  These men were not to be delegates to the Peace Conference, and he agreed with the French Government entirely that they should not be made members of the Conference.

Mr. Lloyd George then proceeded to set forth briefly the reasons which had led the British Government to make this proposal.  They were as follows: 

     Firstly, the real facts are not known;

     Secondly, it is impossible to get the facts, the only way is
     to adjudicate the question; and

Thirdly, conditions in Russia are very bad; there is general mis-government and starvation.  It is not known who is obtaining the upper hand, but the hope that the Bolshevik Government would collapse had not been realized.  In fact, there is one report that the Bolsheviki are stronger than ever, that their internal position is strong, and that their hold on the people is stronger.  Take, for instance, the case of the Ukraine.  Some adventurer raises a few men and overthrows the Government.  The Government is incapable of overthrowing him.  It is also reported that the peasants are becoming Bolsheviki.  It is hardly the business of the Great Powers to intervene either in lending financial support to one side or the other, or in sending munitions to either side.

Mr. Lloyd George stated that there seemed to be three possible policies: 

1.  Military intervention.  It is true there the Bolsheviki movement is as dangerous to civilization as German militarism, but as to putting it down by the sword, is there anyone who proposes it?  It would mean holding a certain number of vast provinces in Russia.  The Germans with one million men on their Eastern Front only held the fringe of this territory.  If he now proposed to send a thousand British troops to Russia for that purpose, the armies would mutiny.  The same applies to U.S. troops in Siberia; also to Canadians and French as well.  The mere idea of crushing Bolshevism by a military force is pure madness.  Even admitting that it is done, who is to occupy Russia?  No one can conceive or understand to bring about order by force.

2.  A cordon.  The second suggestion is to besiege Bolshevik Russia.  Mr. Lloyd George wondered if those present realized what this would mean.  From the information furnished him Bolshevik Russia has no corn, but within this territory there are 150,000,000 men, women, and children.  There is now starvation in Petrograd and Moscow.  This is not a health cordon, it is a death cordon.  Moreover, as a matter of fact, the people who would die are just the people that the Allies desire to protect.  It would