I visited Beaverbrook at his country home. He was talking over the telephone with someone in Canada when I arrived. This immediately directed our conversation to the subject of the Imperial Conference that had just ended. B. was far from enthusiastic about the conference. It had been dull and boring. It had added nothing to the cause of imperial unity. On the contrary, it seemed to have introduced a certain anxiety, for even as inveterate an imperialist as B., when summing up the results of the conference, stated frankly that the strength of imperial bonds could only be proven by the experience of war; he hoped they would stand the test. ‘He hoped.’ B.’s words did not express complete confidence, and this is highly symptomatic.