27 NOVEMBER 1936, Page 3

I wonder what Lord Cromer or Lord Curzon would have

thought of the ending of the debate on the Anglo- Egyptian treaty. Here was the curtain ringing down on a great episode in British Imperial history. Yet not a single Member seemed aware that it was a historic occasion. When Lord Cranborne made the closing speech in the dinner hour the Treasury Bench was almost deserted, and there were barely forty Members present in the Chamber. The Speaker put the motion—" that this House approves of the ratification of the Anglo- Egyptian treaty of friendship and allegiance signed in London on August 26th, 1926. There was a bored murmur of assent. The clerk at the table announced " Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer," the Chief Whip replied " Now, Sir," and the House plunged into a spirited debate on the Additional Import Duties (No. 28) Order, 1936. What a scene a Lytton Strachey of the future will be able to make of su-h a superb study in anti-climax.