[Footnote 36: It took America three years to obtain satisfaction as regards Palestine. On April 9, 1922, the British Government notified the State Department at Washington that it granted, at last, to the _Standard Oil_ the prospecting rights which this company claimed, and conceded the same rights to Americans as to the nationals of all Governments signing the Treaty of Versailles.] CHAPTER XVI FROM WASHINGTON TO GENOA The Struggle for the Oil-fields of Russia A period of calm followed the Washington Conference. On his way to the United States, Sir John Cadman, the Grand Master of British Oil Policy, was lavish with protestations of peace and good will. He affirmed that British policy in no way aimed at eliminating Americans from the oil-bearing regions of the world, and he even declared himself in favour of co-operation between British and American capital in the exploitation of oil. "If," he added, "there are restrictions in certain Dominions and Colonies, it is because the home Government could not resist the demand for them. Besides, in Canada, the biggest company, the _Imperial Oil_, is American. In Trinidad there is a law excluding all but British companies from oil concessions upon Crown lands, but no restriction exists upon other lands in the colony. In Burma also the participation of foreign capital is forbidden, but this prohibition is of long standing; it goes back 35 or 40 years, and there is reason to believe that it may soon be repealed." Sir John Cadman went so far as to declare that he categorically repudiated all governmental intervention in the oil question. In the mouth of one of the directors of the _Anglo-Persian_, this statement is somewhat amusing. But undoubtedly, the British Government, feeling that it had gone too far, realized the necessity of dropping some ballast. During the Washington Conference, on the fringe of the main naval agreement, an oil truce was secretly negotiated. Britain even consented to allow the _Standard Oil_ to establish itself in the five provinces of Northern Persia which had formerly been reserved for Russian interests. In order to obtain concessions form the Persian Government, in spite of the initial opposition of the _Anglo-Persian_, the _Standard_ had not hesitated to make use of the American minister at Teheran.[37] _The support which the representatives of Washington never refused has always been one of the principal causes of its triumphs._