HC Deb 17 February 1880 vol 250 cc794-5
MR. SERJEANT SIMON

had the following Question on the Paper:—To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government and of the Governments of France and Germany, as stated in the Foreign Correspondence of the "Times" of Saturday and to-day, soon to recognise the independence of Roumania; if so, whether and how the stipulations of the Treaty of Berlin are to be carried out, requiring, as a condition precedent to such recognition, that all Roumanian subjects shall, without regard to race or religious profession, be placed upon equal footing in respect of civil and political rights; whether it is the fact that out of a Jewish population of about 250,000, of whom about 200,000 are natives, a vast number being descendants of those who settled in the country four centuries ago, the Act of Emancipation passed by the Roumanian Legislature as a fulfilment of the Berlin Treaty restricts emancipation to categories numbering altogether not more than 2,000 or 3,000 Jews, while it leaves the rest as hitherto, without civil rights, and, in defiance of public law, aliens in the land of their Birth, and that being Jews, without a country of their own according to Roumanian law judicially declared, without even the protection extended by civilized nations to other aliens; whether Her Majesty's Government will accept such a measure as a fulfilment of the stipulations of the Berlin Treaty; and, whether they have required and have received assurances from the Roumanian Government of their intention to extend the emancipation to the rest of the Jewish subjects?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

observed, that the Question was one of very great length, and that his attention had only just been called to it. The matter was one on which it would be necessary for him to consult the Home Secretary; perhaps, therefore, the hon. and learned Member would put off his Question until some future day. It was desirable that a few days' Notice should be given of Questions involving considerations of policy.

MR. SERJEANT SIMON

said, he would put his Question on Friday.