Lords Chamber

House Of Lords

Monday, 12th October, 1908.

Fairfax Peerage

Petition of Albert Kirby Fairfax, that he may be permitted to refer in his printed case, and at the hearing of his claim, to the proceedings in the case of Bryan Fairfax, claiming the title and dignity of Lord Fairfax of Cameron, upon which a resolution and adjudication was made by this House on the 16th day of May, 1800, and that he may be absolved from establishing the descent of the title prior to the said resolution and adjudication; read, and referred to the Committee for Privileges.

Sat First

The Earl of Derby.—Sat first in Parliament after the death of his father.

Parliamentary Papers (Recess)

Fiji.—Further correspondence respecting. Laid before the House (pursuant to Address of the 16th of July last), and to be printed. [No. 205.]

The LORD CHANCELLOR acquainted the House, That the following Papers having been commanded to be presented to this House by His Majesty, had been so presented on the following dates by delivery to the Clerk of the Parliaments, pursuant to Standing Order, No. CXI., viz.—

Africa, No. 4. (1908).—Further correspondence respecting the taxation of Natives and other questions in the Congo State (in continuation of Africa, No. 3 (1908) [Cd. 4135.]). (August 4.)

Colonies.—1. Annual—

No. 567. Seychelles (Report for 1907). (August 5.)

No. 568. Bermuda (Report for 1907). (August 8.)
No. 569. Weihaiwei (Report for 1907). (August 13.)
No. 570. Hong Kong (Report for 1907). (August 18.)
No. 571. Malta (Report for 1907–1908). (August 19.)
No. 572. British Honduras (Report for 1907). (August 25.)
No. 573. Gold Coast (Report for 1907). (September 10.)
No. 574. Nyasaland (Report for 1907–1908). (September 14.)
No. 575. Bahamas (Report for 1907–1908). (September 28.)
No. 576. Gambia (Report for 1907). (October 6.)

II. Miscellaneous—

No. 53. East Africa Protectorate (Report on Veterinary Bacteriological Work during 1907–1908). (August 8.)
No. 54. Newfoundland (Report by the Governor on a visit to the Micmac Indians at Bay d'Espoir). (September 12.)
No. 55. Cape Colony (Report on the Rietfontein Area, by Mr. J. F. Herbst). (October 2.)

Reformatory and Industrial Schools (Ireland).—Forty-sixth Report of the Inspector, for the year 1907. (August 5.)

Irish Land Commission—

I. Return of advances made under the Irish Land Act, 1903, during the month of November, 1907. (August 7.)

II. Return of advances made under the Irish Land Act, 1903, during the month of December, 1907. (August 26.)

III. (Proceedings).—Returns for the months of March, April, May, and June, 1908. (August 29); Return for the month of July, 1908. (September 5); Return for the month of August, 1908. (September 18.)

Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland).—Fifty-second Detailed Annual Re- port of the Registrar-General for Scotland of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Scotland. (Abstracts for 1906.) (August 10.)

Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.—Annual Report of the Intelligence Division: Part I. Proceedings under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, the Merchandise Marks Acts, 1887 to 1894, the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1906, and the Board of Agriculture Act, 1889 (Section 2, subsection 3), for the year 1907. (August 10.)

Charitable Donations and Bequests (Ireland).—Sixty-third Report of the Commissioners. (August 12.)

Trade Reports.—Annual Series—

No. 4075. Brazil (Santos, Annex to Report for 1907). (September 1.)
No. 4084. Germany (Frankfort).
No. 4085. Muscat (Muscat).
No. 4086. Paraguav (Paraguay).
No. 4087. Persia (Kerman). (August 12.)
No. 4088. Egypt (Port Said and Suez). (August 14.)
No. 4089. Denmark.
No. 4090. Costa Rica (Costa Rica).
No. 4091. Spain (Barcelona).
No. 4092. Austria-Hungary (Bohemia).
No. 4093. United States (Chicago).
No. 4094. Netherlands (Surinam, Dutch Guiana).
No. 4095. Germany (Pomerania).
No. 4096. Brazil (Bahia). (August 17.)
No. 4097. Italy (South Italy. Supplementary Report).
No. 1098. Guatemala (Quezaltenango).
No. 4099. Austria-Hungary (Fiume).
No. 4100. Persia. (Kermanshah).
No. 4101. Guatemala (Guatemala). (August 19.)
No. 4102. Mexico (Mexico).
No. 4103. China (Ichang).
No. 4104. China (Shasi).
No. 4105. Siam (Chiengmai).
No. 4106. Japan (Shimonseki).
No. 4107. Denmark (Faroe Islands and Iceland). (August 22.)
No. 4108. China (Shanghai).

No. 4109. Austria-Hungary (Finances for 1907–1908). (August 28.)
No. 4110. Russia (Foreign Commerce of Russia and Trade of St. Petersburg Consular District). (September 1.)
No. 4111. Brazil (Para) (Report for 1907 and previous Years). (September 14.)
No. 4112. Servia (Finances, 1908). (September 18.)
No. 4113. France (Madagascar). (September 29.)
No. 4114. France (Martinique). (September 30.)
No. 4115. Turkey (Erzeroum).
No. 4116. Turkey (Mosul). (September 29.)
No. 4117. France (French Indo-China). (September 30.)
No. 4118. Italy (Florence).
No. 4119. Spain (Asturias, Galicia, and Leon).
No. 4120. Corea (Corea). (September 29.)
No. 4121. Turkey (Salonica). (September 30.)
No. 4122. Italy (Venice).
No. 4123. Germany (Hamburg).
No. 4124. China (Kiungchow (Hoi-how)). (October 2.)
No. 4125. China (Swatow). (September 30.)
No. 4126. Sweden (Stockholm). (October 3.)
No. 4127. Egypt (Alexandria). (October 5.)
No. 4128. Bolivia (Bolivia). (October 8.)
No. 4129. China (Chefoo). (October 3.)
No. 4130. Turkey (Jeddah).
No. 4131. Servia. (October 5.)
No. 4132. Bulgaria.
No. 4133. France (Cherbourg).
No. 4134. Persia (Arabistan).
No. 4135. Uruguay (Trade for 1907, and Finances for 1908–1909 (Supplementary)).
No. 4136. Germany (Bavaria).
No. 4137. China (Changsha).
No. 4138. Russia (Odessa).
No. 4139. Brazil (Pernambuco).
No. 4140. Tunis (Tunis).
No. 4141. Turkey (Smyrna). (October 8.)

Treaty Series—

No. 21 (1908).—Arbitration Convention between the United Kingdom and the United States of America, together with an Exchange of Notes as to the interpretation of Article 2; signed at Washington, 4th April, 1908. (Ratifications exchanged at Washington, 4th June, 1908.)
No. 23 (1908).—Declaration and Memorandum between the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, concerning the maintenance of the status quo in the territories bordering upon the North Sea; signed at Berlin, 23rd April, 1908. (Ratifications deposited at Berlin, 2nd July, 1908.) (August 12.)
No. 24 (1908).—Agreement between the United Kingdom and Belgium concerning the exchange of insured letters and boxes; signed at Brussels, 28th July, 1908. (August 29.)
No. 25 (1908).—Accession of the United States of America to the International Agreement of 18th May, 1904, for the suppression of the White Slave Traffic, 6th June, 1908. (September 16.)
No. 26 (1908).—Agreement between the United Kingdom and Liberia modifying the Treaty of Commerce of 21st November, 1848; signed at Monrovia, 23rd July, 1908. (October 6.)
No. 27 (1908).—Agreement between the United Kingdom and Ethiopia relative to the frontiers between British East Africa, Uganda, and Ethiopia; signed at Adis Ababa, 6th December, 1907 (with map).) (October 8.)

Irish Land Act, 1903.—Report of tin-Estates Commissioners for the year ended 31st March. 1908, and for the period from 1st November, 1903, to 31st March, 1908, with appendices. (August 14.)

Army.—Report of the Army Department for the year 1907. Volume XLIX. (August 19.)

Sewage Disposal (Royal Commission).—Fifth Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire and report what methods of treating and disposing of sewage may properly be adopted; together with minutes of evidence and appendices (eight volumes). (August 20.)

Board of Education.—Statistics of Public Education in England and Wales, 1906, 1907, 1908; Part I. Educational Statistics.

Local Government Board.—Thirtysixth Report of the Local Government Board, 1906–1907. Supplement containing the Report of the Medical Officer for 1906–1907. (August 21.)

Mines and Quarries—

I. (Irruption of Water at Brereton Collieries).—Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by Hugh Johnstone, His Majesty's Inspector of Mines, on the causes of and circumstances attending an irruption of water which occurred at Brereton Collieries, South Staffordshire, on 15th February, 1908. (August 22.)

II. (General Report and Statistics for 1907; Part II. Labour).—General Report and Statistics relating to persons employed and accidents at mines and quarries in the United Kingdom and to the enforcement of the Mines and Quarries Acts. (September 4.)

III. (Explosion at Norton Hill Colliery).—Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by J. S. Martin, I.S.O., one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Mines, on the circum stances attending an explosion which occurred at Norton Hill Colliery on 9th April, 1908. (October 6.)

National Education (Ireland)—Annual Report of the Commissioners, for the year 1907–8. (August 24.)

Explosives—

I. (Explosion of Detonators in Factory at Newbold, Derbyshire).—Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by Captain H. Coningham, R.A., His Majesty's Inspector of Explosives, on the circumstances attending an explosion of detonators at the factory of the Patent Electric Shot Firing Company, Newbold in the county of Derby, on 29th June, 1908.

II. (Explosion of Chlorate of Potash, etc., in warehouse at Dawson Street, Hulme, Manchester).—Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by Major A. Cooper-Key, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Explosives, on the circum stances attending an explosion on the premises occupied by the Mersey, Weaver, and Ship Canal Carrying Company, Limited, in Dawson Street, Hulme, Manchester, on 23rd June, 1908.

III. (Explosion of Dynamite in Factory at Cliffe, Kent).—Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by Major A. Cooper-Key, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Explosives, on the circumstances attending an explosion which occurred in a cartridge hut at the factory of Messrs. Curtiss and Harvey, Limited, at Cliffe, in the county of Kent, on 5th June, 1908. (August 24.)

India (Factory Labour Commission, 1908)—

I. Report of the Indian Factory Labour Commission, 1908: Volume I. Report and Appendices. (August 25.)

II. (Statistical Abstract).—Statistical Abstract relating to British India from 1897–8 to 1906–7. Forty-second number. (September 12.)

III. (Sanitary Measures).—Report on Sanitary Measures in India in 1906–1907. Volume XL. (September 17.)

Greenwich Observatory.—Report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1908. (August 27.)

Fisheries (Ireland).—Report of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland on the Sea and Inland Fisheries of Ireland, for the year 1907: Part I. General Report. (August 28.)

Prisons (England and Wales).—Report of the Commissioners of Prisons and the Directors of Convict Prisons for the year ended 31st March, 1908 (Parts I. and II.), with Appendices. (August 31.)

Lunacy (Ireland).—Fifty-seventh Report of the Inspectors of Lunatics in Ireland, for the year 1907. (August 31.)

Railway Servants (Hours of Labour).—Return in pursuance of Section 4 of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1889, of railway servants of certain classes who were on one or more occasions during the month of April, 1908, on duty on certain railways of the United Kingdom for more than twelve hours at a time, or who, after being on duty more than twelve hours, were allowed to resume work with less than nine hours rest, showing periods of duty after deduction of time (if any) spent, in travelling home after relief; with appendices giving additional statements and explanations furnished by the railway companies. (August 31.)

Agricultural Statistics (Ireland).—Abstracts showing the acreage under crops and the numbers of live stock in each county and province, 1907–8. (September 3.)

Fishery Investigations.—Minutes of Evidence given before the Committee appointed to inquire into the scientific and statistical investigations now being carried on in relation to the fishing industry of the United Kingdom; together with appendices to the Report. (September 4.)

Local Government Board (Scotland).—Supplement to the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Local Government Board for Scotland, 1907, containing statistics of infectious disease notifications and of mortality, for the year 1907. (September 10.)

Police (Metropolis).—Report of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, for the year 1907. (September 11.)

Secondary Education (Scotland).—Report for the Year 1908 by John Struthers, Esquire, C.B., LL.D. (September 11.)

Public Records (Ireland).—Fortieth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, for the Year 1907. (September 12.)

Dublin Hospitals.—Filtieth Report of the Board of Superintendance of Dublin Hospitals, for the Year 1907–8. (September 15.)

Railway Accidents—

I. General Report of the Board of Trade upon accidents that have occurred on the railways of the United Kingdom during the year 1907. (August 27.)

II. Summary of Accidents and Casualties reported to the Board of Trade by the several railway companies in the United Kingdom during the three months ended 31st March, 1908, in pursuance of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1871; together with reports of the Inspecting Officers and Sub-Inspecting Officers of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade upon certain accidents which were inquired into. (September 15.)

Cyprus.—Annual Report for 1907–8 (September 24.)

Miscellaneous—

No. 7. (1908).—Reports respecting the limitations imposed by law upon testamentary bequests in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and the United States.
No. 8. (1908).—Reports from His Majesty's representatives abroad, respecting the limitation of speeches in the supreme legislative assemblies in certain foreign countries. (September 25.)

Peterhead Harbour,—Reports respecting Peterhead Harbour Works (in continuation of [Cd. 3744.]). (September 26.)

Navy.—Returns of the number of courts martial held and summary punishments inflicted on seamen of the Royal Navy, etc., during the year 1907. (October 3.)

China, No. 2 (1908).—Despatch from His Majesty's Minister in China forwarding a General Report, by Mr. Leech, respecting the opium question in China (in continuation of China, No. 1. (1908) [Cd. 3881].) (October 3.)

Asia Minor.—Report on agriculture in Asia Minor with special reference to cotton cultivation, by Professor Wyndham Dunstan, M.A., LL.D.. F.R.S., Director of the Imperial Institute. (October 8.)

Register House, Edinburgh.—Minute of the Secretary for Scotland amending Article VI. of the Secretary for Scotland's Minute, dated 14th September, 1893, with respect to gratuities to engrossing clerks in the office of the Register of Deeds in the Sasines Office and in the Record Office. (October 9.)

Workmen's Compensation.—Statistics of proceedings under Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1897, 1900, and 1906, and the Employers' Liability Act, 1880, during the year 1907. (October 9.)

Injuries to Submarine Cables.—Report of Inter-Departmental Committee on injuries to submarine cables; with minutes of evidence and appendices. (October 9.)

Light Railways Act, 1896.—

I. Portmadoc, Beddgelert, and South Snowdon Railway (Light Railway) Order, 1908.—Order made by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by the Board of Trade, authorising the Portmadoc, Beddgelert, and South Snowdon Railway Company to reconstruct, construct, and work the railways authorised by the Portmadoc, Beddgelert, and South Snowdon Railway Acts, 1901 and 1904, as a light railway under the Light Railways Act, 1896, and authorising the construction of a light railway in the county of Carnarvon from the termination of the railway authorised by the said Act of 1901, near Beddgelert, to Bettws-y-Coed, and amending and consolidating the capital and borrowing powers of the Company, and for other purposes; Order made by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by the Board of Trade, authorising the construction of light railways in the borough and county of Carnarvon, being a deviation and extension of the authorised undertaking of the Portmadoc, Beddgelert, and South Snowdon Railway Company from Dinas to Carnarvon, and the abandonment of a part of the said undertaking.

II. Central Essex Light Railway (Amendment and Extension of Time) Order, 1908.—An Order made by the Light Railway Com missioners, and confirmed by the Board of Trade, amending the Central Essex Light Railway Orders, 1901–7.

III. County of Hertford Light Railways (Watford and Bushey Extensions, etc.) Order, 1908.—Order made by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by the Board of Trade, authorising the construction of light railways in the urban district of War ford, in the county of Hertford, and amending the County of Hertford Light Railways (No. 1) Order, 1904.

IV. Llandilo and Lampeter Light Railway Order. 1908.—Order made by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by the Board of Trade, authorising the construction of a light railway in the counties of Carnarvon and of Cardigan from Llandilo to Lampeter.

V. Tanat Valley Light Railway (Additional Powers) Order, 1908.—Order made by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by the Board of Trade, conferring additional powers upon the Tanat Valley Light Railway Company, incorporated by the Tanat Valley Light Railway Order, 1898. (October 9.)

The same were ordered to lie on the Table.

Returns, Reports, Etc

Inebriates Acts, 1879 To 1900

Report of the inspector under the Inebriates Acts, 1870 to 1900, for the year 1907.

Evicted Tenants (Ireland) Act, 1907

Return giving particulars of cases in which persons have been reinstated with the assistance of the Estates Commissioners during the quarter ended 30th June, 1908.

Mines And Quarries (General Report And Statistics, 1907: Part Iii Out-Put)

General report and statistics relating to the out-put and value of the minerals raised in the United Kingdom, the amount and value of the metals produced, and the exports and imports of minerals.

Congested Districts Board (Ireland)

Report of the Board, for the year ended 31st March, 1908.

Reformatory And Industrial Schools (Great Britain)

Fifty-first Report, for year 1907, of His Majesty's Inspector of Reformatories and Industrial Schools; Part II. General Report and Appendices III. to X.

Navy (Health)

Statistical Report of the Health of the Navy, for the year 1907.

Presented (by Command), and ordered to lie on the Table.

Supreme Court Of Judicature

Rules of the Supreme Court as to judges' summonses in the King's Bench Division.

Destructive Insects And Pests Acts, 1877 And 1907

Destructive Insects and Pests Acts. 1877 and 1907—

Order, dated 14th August, 1908, entitled "The American Gooseberry Mildew (Kent) Order of 1908." [No. 2.]; Order, dated 28th August 1908, entitled "The American Gooseberry Mildew (Essex) Order of 1908."

Diseases Of Animals Acts,1894 To 1903

Order No. 7559, dated 22nd September, 1908, relating to animals being carried on the ss. "Diana."

Leeward Islands

An Act, further to amend the Prison Act, 1877, and to enable prisoners to earn by special industry a remission of a portion of their imprisonment; together with rules made under Section 2 thereof.

Local Government Board (Ireland)

The Labourers (Ireland) Order, 1908.

Motor Car Acts, 1890 And 1903

Order made by the Local Government Board for Ireland, limiting the speed of motor oars on certain roads in the county of Wicklow, and prohibiting all motor car traffic, with certain exceptions, through Church Lane, Greystones.

Department Of Agriculture And Technical Instruction For Ireland

The Black Scab in Potatoes (Ireland) Order, 1908.

Polling Districts (County Of Lancaster)

Orders made by the council of the county of Lancaster, re-dividing the Eccles, Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth, and Stretford Parliamentary divisions into polling districts.

Penal Servitude Acts (1803–1891) (Conditional Licence)

Licence granted by His Majesty to Teresa Rea, a convict under detention in Aylesbury Prison, permitting her to be at large on condition that she enter the East End Refuge, Finchley, N.

Shop Hours Act, 1904

Orders made by the following borough councils, and confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, fixing the hours of closing for certain classes of shops within the respective boroughs—Burslem; Neath; Chippenham; Keighley.

Orders made by the following county councils, and confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, fixing the hours of closing for certain classes of shops within the respective counties—West Riding of Yorkshire (Bingley); Monmouth (Tredegar); Durham (Houghton-le-Spring).

Orders made by the following urban district councils, and confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, fixing the hours of closing for certain classes of shops within the respective urban districts—Cookstown; Rhondda.

Order made by the council of the county borough of Brighton, and confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, fixing the hours of closing for certain classes of shops within the county borough.

Order made by the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar, and confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, fixing the hours of closing for certain classes of shops within the Metropolitan Borough.

Factory And Workshop (Schemes For Regulation Of Hours Of Employment, Etc, In Charitable Institutions)

Schemes for the regulation of hours of employment, intervals and holdings of

workers in charitable institutions, approved by the Secretary of State in pursuance of the powers conferred on him by Section 5 (2) ( a) of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1907.

Merchant Shipping Act, 1894

Orders in Council, dated August 1st, 1908—Continuing in force until December 31st, 1908, the bye-laws relating to pilotage rates between Hull and Goole, approved by Order in Council of November 2nd, 1907; Approving pilotage bye-laws made by the Tees Pilotage Commissioners in substitution for the bye-laws approved by Order in Council of October 26th, 1896; Approving pilotage bye-laws made by the Bristol Pilotage Authority.

Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890

Orders in Council, dated 26th September, 1908—Revoking the Brunei Orders in Council of 1901 and 1906; allowing appeals to His Majesty in Council from decisions of the Straits Settlements Supreme Court, sitting as a Court of Appeal from the Courts having jurisdiction in Brunei; The Foreign Jurisdiction (Probates) Order in Council, 1908; The Pacific Order in Council, 1893, Amendment Order, 1908.

Naval And Marine Pay And Pensions Act, 1865

Six Orders in Council under the above-named Act.

Mail Ships Acts, 1891 And 1902

Order in Council, dated 1st August, 1908, entitled "The Mail Ships (Rules) Order in Council, 1908."

Extradition Acts, 1870 And 1873

Order in Council, dated 1st August, 1908, entitled "The Straits Settlements Extradition Order, 1908."

Ecclesiastical Fees

Order in Council, dated 6th October, 1908, allowing a table of ecclesiastical fees and payments settled by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the Archbishop of York, in pursuance of the Acts 1 & 2 Vict., cap. 106 and 30 & 31 Vict., cap. 135.

Superannuation

Treasury Minute, dated 31st August, 1908, granting a retired allowance to William H. Harrington First Class Clerk, Supplementary Establishment, Secretary's Office, Post Office, under Section 2 of the Superannuation Act; Treasury Minute, dated 16th September, 1908, declaring that for the due and efficient discharge of the office of Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, professional or other peculiar qualifications not ordinarily to be acquired on the Public Service are required.

Laid before the House (pursuant to Act), and ordered to lie on the Table.

Universities Of Oxford And Cambridge Act, 1877

Statute made by the Governing Body of St. John's College, Oxford, on 2nd May, 1908, and sealed on 6th May, 1908, altering and amending Statute XV., Clause 4, of the Statutes of the College; Statute made by the Governing Body of Queen's College, Oxford, on 10th June, 1908, and sealed on the same date, altering the Statutes of the College by adding thereto a new Statute, No. XXIV. (the Southampton Exhibitioners.)

Laid before the House (pursuant to Act, and to be printed. (No. 206.)

Margate Pier And Harbour Company (1812)

Report and statement of accounts for the year ended 5th April, 1908.

Mersey Docks And Harbour Act, 1837

Accounts of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board for the year ended 1st July, 1908.

Delivered (pursuant to Act), and ordered to lie on the Table.

The Situation In The Balkan Peninsula

My Lords, I rise to ask His Majesty's Government a Question of which I have given them private notice. We on this side of the House desire to know whether they are in a position to afford us any information not already in our possession with regard to the situation in the Balkan Peninsula. I make no apology for asking that Question. The events which have followed one another with ominous rapidity during the last few days have created a feeling of profound anxiety throughout Europe, and, I think I may add, a feeling of the utmost dismay in this country—this country in which one Government after another has spared no efforts to avoid the crisis which has apparently been precipitated by the conduct of some of the European Powers. We shall be glad to know whether His Majesty's Government can tell us anything as to the facts of the case, and as to their own attitude with regard to the situation. I couple that Question with this reservation. Nothing is further from my thoughts than to press Ministers for any information which they think it is contrary to the public interest to give at the present moment. We have followed with attention the statements I lately made by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and by the Prime Minister upon these subjects, and I may be permitted to say that in my humble opinion nothing could have been more dignified in tone or more appropriate in substance than the statement made by Sir Edward Grey last week. If when I sit down my noble friend, who will, I suppose, follow me, tells me that he has nothing to add to Sir Edward Grey's statement I shall make no complaint whatever; and I can assure noble Lords opposite, speaking, I am sure, for those who sit round me, that our one desire is to strengthen the hands of His Majesty's Government and to assist them in accomplishing the task to which we understand from the Prime Minister they have set themselves—the two-fold task of maintaining the public law of Europe and preventing the disturbance of the peace of the world.

My Lords, nobody, I am certain, on whichever side of the House he sits or whatever his opinions upon any issue of foreign policy may be, could possibly complain for one moment of my noble friend having asked this question directly your Lordships' House reassembled. This House has always been the scene of great debates on foreign policy, and it is quite natural that on this occasion a Question should be asked in regard to the grave issues which have recently arisen in the East of Europe. In regard to the facts of the case, I do not think that I have anything to add to what has already been publicly stated in what are called the ordinary sources of information. The events to which my noble friend has alluded have not been done in secret; they have been announced on the house-tops, and they are public property. But there is, of course, the far graver and more difficult question as to what the course of European diplomacy is to be, and, more particularly, the question which occupies your Lords-ships' attention—what the course of the diplomacy of this country is to be. I have to thank my noble friend for the language in which he has spoken of the statement made by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at Wooler in the course of last week. I am glad that he, speaking with his high authority, has endorsed the approval which has been given already by the general public, both to the tone and to the substance of Sir Edward Grey's speech, and it is an encouragement to His Majesty's Government to think that in this matter, grave and troublesome as it is, they will have behind them not merely the voice of their own Party, but, they believe, the confidence of the united nation. As my right hon. friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs stated in that speech, and as the Prime Minister, also, I think, on the same day, publicly stated, it is impossible for this country, in the interest of the value of treaties, to recognise an alteration of them made by any individual State without the consent of the other parties. That principle, as your Lordships know, was laid down in a European document of the highest importance in 1871 at the time of the denunciation of the clauses of the Black Sea Treaty by Russia, when a conference assembled in London, and when, on the proposal of Lord Granville, before any alteration was consented to in the substance of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, all the high contracting Powers united in the declaration the text of which, is, I think, by this time perfectly well known to your Lordships, because it has been reprinted in nearly every newspaper in the United Kingdom. We hold, my Lords, to the principle laid down in that historic document. We regard the events which have recently taken place in the Near East as necessitating consideration by the Powers with a view of arriving at a settlement which shall show due regard to the interests of Turkey, or of any other State which may have been prejudiced by recent changes, but we cannot admit the right of any individual State to be the judge in its own cause. We hope and trust that a solution will be found, and we shall use our influence to help to secure that it shall be both peaceful and equitable. No definite arrangement for a Conference has yet been come to, and the question of how a settlement can be attained, and what should be comprised in it, is at present forming the subject of discussion. Meanwhile, we hope that those who naturally feel aggrieved will not precipitate a crisis by hasty action and will continue to display the moderation and restraint which have hitherto distinguished them, relying upon the general desire which we believe exists to show fair consideration for their interests. I may add this, that while on the one hand we recognise, and joyfully recognise, as the whole people of this country have, the great change in the direction of improved administration and reform in Turkey, we also do not forget how, for many years past, we have also asserted and vindicated the rights and liberties of what are known as the Christian populations of the Balkan Peninsula. Those two principles are not in any manner incompatible, and we fully believe that it will not be beyond the strength and the power and the skill of the diplomacy of Europe to secure the maintenance of those improved institutions which have come into being in Turkey, and at the same time to maintain the goodwill of the minor States of the Balkan Peninsula which are bound to us by the memories of the past thirty years. I hope that the House will con- sider this short statement adequate under the circumstances of the moment, which, as my noble friend himself will be the first to recognise, require the most extreme circumspection and the greatest care on my part and on that of others who have to speak elsewhere in the language used if we are to obtain a satisfactory and a peaceful solution.

Incest Bill

Order for the Second Reading Tomorrow discharged.

House adjourned at a quarter before Five o'clock, till Tomorrow, a quarter before Eleven o'clock.

Volume 194: debated on Monday 12 October 1908