ABSTRACT
The foreign secretary was now hinting that the opposite was the case, and Mackenzie's memorandum was thus no longer only an examination of arguments likely to be advanced by the Arabs, and of possible refutations of such arguments. It had itself become a plea in favour of the Arab contentions. Beckett's comments on the memorandum, and Baggallay's language in his letter to Downie, both cited above, show this clearly, as does the attitude which the foreign office subsequently took when the correspondence was examined by the British-Arab committee. Downie's arguments were summarily brushed aside and dismissed at the foreign office. Baggallay declared that McMahon's letter to The Times was worthless as evidence. He conceded that the British government did consult the French and others before issuing the Balfour declaration but this, he affirmed', does not alter the fact that they initiated it'.
