HC Deb 17 February 1888 vol 322 cc715-6
MR. BURT (Morpeth)

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether there is any truth in the report published in The Times of yesterday (15th February), that Admiral Hewett, in a speech of welcome to an Italian dignitary, who came on board the English flagship at Genoa, had said that— The bonds which unite us may hereafter receive a practical application by the union of the Italian and English Fleets; and, if these words were used, whether Admiral Hewett was authorized to intimate in this manner the prospect of an active alliance between this country and Italy?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)

Perhaps as the Question relates to an officer connected with my Department I may be allowed to answer it. The paragraph in The Times of yesterday to which the hon. Gentleman alludes is as follows: — An exchange of compliments between Admiral Sir William Hewett and a Genoa dignitary, Signor Pavesi, has been exaggerated by The Caffaro of Genoa into a political demonstration. It not unfrequently happens, as all know from personal knowledge, that when the officers of one nation entertain those of another, the wish is expressed that the respective forces to which they belong may not be opposed to one another in actual warfare; and the words which the hon. Gentleman quotes, even if they were used by Admiral Hewett (which I doubt), seem to me to be only expressive of this kindly and most proper sentiment.