THE EARL OF CARNARVONsaid, he wished to put a Question to the noble Lord the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Their Lordships were aware that by the Treaty of Turin, Nice was to be ceded by Sardinia to France. In the French version of the Treaty as published in the Moniteur, it appeared that the word "arrondissement" was used, a term as to which there was some ambiguity. He wished to ask whether the noble Lord opposite could furnish the House with any satisfactory information on this subject. Their Lordships were also aware that a mixed commission of Sardinian and French officers had been appointed in order to settle the boundary between the two countries. Now those of their Lordships who knew the country were well aware that the road to Turin, after leaving Nice, instead of bending round the spur of the maritime Alps, mounted to their summit. The question of boundary was therefore of the utmost importance, both as regarded this road and also the limits of the neighbouring State of Monaco. He wished to know whether the noble Lord could give the House some information on this point also?
LORD WODEHOUSEreplied, that he was not able to give much information. The Treaty of Zurich had not yet been ratified by the Sardinian Parliament, and, in fact, the treaty itself was silent as to the precise limits between Nice and Sardinia. He believed a Commission was about to be appointed to consider that question, but he was not in possession of sufficient information to warrant him in saying anything further upon so important a point.
§ THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGHsaid, that as to the existing boundaries on these frontiers, they were as well ascertained as those of any borough in England. If the word "arrondissement," were intended as a translation of "circondario," and the latter was the word actually used in the Treaty, there could be no doubt whatever as to what was its exact rendering.