Upon the boat train which slowly glided into Victoria Station, London, from Folkestone was Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, seven times Premier of France. Upon the station platform, ready to greet his French colleague, was monocled, natty British Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain, gifted son of "Brummagen Joe," surrounded by a crowd of officials, French and British.
M. Briand, looking older, slightly more rotund and as disreputable as ever he did, descended from his Pullman car and was met with effusive greetings from his British confrere. These urbanities over, the two statesmen posed for the ubiquitous cameramen, beaming and cracking jokes in French. "Non," he had nothing to say for publication. The two custodians of their respective countries' foreign policies exchanged smiles and followed them up with an exchange of hearty farewells. M. Briand sped away to the Hyde Park Hotel in Knightsbridge. Mr. Chamberlain betook him to his residence in Morpeth Mansions.
Bright and early next morning the French Foreign Minister, obedient to the wishes of King George, paid a visit to Buckingham Palace. For 40 minutes he conversed with the British Sovereign and when, at the end of that time, he emerged between the high iron gates of the Palace, his chin and cheeks cleanly shaved, a wide smile lit his sallow countenance. From then on, everybody took it as a matter of course that his visit was bound to be successful.
From the Palace to the Foreign Office is but a few minutes' drive along the Mall, through the Admiralty Arch and down Whitehall. Thither went M. Briand; there was he joined by le comte de Fleurian, French Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, by M. Philippe Berthelot of the Quai d'Orsay, and by M. Fromageot, French international jurist. Then began conversations between the French Foreign Minister and the British Foreign Secretary to decide upon an answer to Germany's recent note relative to the proposed Rhine Treaty which is to guarantee the status quo on the frontier between France and Germany (TIME, June 22). For this had M. Briand braved La Manche (the English Channel).
A hiatus occurred in the conversations at lunch time. At the French Embassy in Albert Gate House, Hyde Park, a great assemblage of dignitaries rendered homage to M. de Fleurian's cuisine. Most distinguished of the guests was Alanson B. Houghton, U. S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, attired immaculately as ever, owlish in his heavy horn-rimmed spectacles. His presence at the political feast, considered a signficant sign of U. S. interest in the security parley, despite unequivocal and official denials, was a topic of discussion for days after. Rightly or wrongly, the U. S. Ambassador was credited with having prepared the way when he was in Berlin for the security proposals which last February emanated from Germany.
The conversations proceeded that afternoon until about 6 o'clock. At the Hyde Park Hotel, M. Briand was besieged by clamorous reporters. To them he said: "The French and British viewpoints regarding the security compact have come materially closer together as a result of today's conversations. I believe—no, you may say I am confident—that one more meeting tomorrow will suffice for us to arrive at an agreement on the wording of the reply to Germany."