§ 41. Mr. GARRO-JONESasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether His Majesty's Government, in the study of their international obligations, draw any distinction between an act of aggression and an unprovoked act 23 of aggression; whether he can give any indication of the method by which provocation which has become reciprocal and progressive will be traced to its historical source; and whether, in the framing of any further pacts, he will endeavour to secure the omission of an adjective which is likely to cause more cavil than the term aggression unqualified?
§ Viscount CRANBORNEThe answer to the first part of the question would depend upon the whole of the terms of the particular agreement under which the obligation arose. As regards the second part of the question, the point would, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, have to be determined not by a priori rules, but in the light of the circumstances of each case and of the international instruments which might be applicable to it. As regards the third part, the foregoing considerations will doubtless not be overlooked.