§ MR. ARTHUR ARNOLDasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he could give the House any information in reference to the important telegram which had appeared in The Times and other newspapers concerning the Commercial Treaty with Turkey?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICESir, the statement in The Times to which my hon. Friend refers is practically correct. Her Majesty's Chargé d' Affaires at Constantinople received, on the 31st of March, an assurance from the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs that the Tariff of 1861 would remain in force till the end of September next, pending further commercial negotiations between this country and Turkey. On the 18th instant, however, Her Majesty's Chargé d' Affaires received a Note from the Porte, stating that it was their intention to levy forthwith an ad valorem duty of 8 per cent on all imports. Her Majesty's Government have since been informed that this duty is now being imposed. Mr. Wyndham has addressed a formal protest to the Porte on the subject.