Mr. Baringwished to know from the noble Lord (Althorp), whether it was the intention of Government to propose to Parliament any measure with respect to the guaranteeing by England, of the Greek Loan. That was a question connected with the foreign policy of the country, and, as it involved the expenditure of the public money, it ought to be submitted to the Representatives of the people, and his question was, would it be submitted to them this Session.
§ Viscount Palmerstonsaid, that, as the subject alluded to lay in his department of the Administration, he would take upon himself the duty of replying to the hon. Member. Before bringing the subject under the notice of Parliament, which it was positively the intention of his Majesty's Government to do, he was desirous to lay before the House all the Protocols which had been agreed to on the subject, since it 561 was last before the House. To do that at present would not only be unadvisable, but impossible, and, therefore, he could not name any day for bringing the matter under consideration. As the hon. Member had mentioned the term "guarantee," in order to prevent any misconstruction he (Lord Palmerston) would observe that the guarantee contained in the Treaty, would not involve England in the liability of paying one single shilling of the loan, as it was distinctly arranged that the whole revenue of Greece should, in the first instance, be applied to the payment of the interest and the debt, by instalments; so that England could not be called upon unless on the failure of that revenue.
Mr. Baringwas glad to perceive that his Majesty's Ministers were at length convinced of the impropriety of disposing of the public money without taking the opinion of Parliament. If the discussions upon the Russian Dutch loan had produced such a result, and it was evident they had, no man could fairly regret the time which they had occupied. He confessed he did not really understand the explanation of the noble Lord upon the use of the term "guarantee." All he could then say was, that if there was any guarantee for the payment of money by England, on account of Greece, it would require a great many protocols to make such an arrangement acceptable to the country.
§ Viscount Palmerstondenied that the discussions on the Russian Dutch loan had produced the result to which the hon. Member alluded. In point of fact the circumstances of the two cases were quite different. The one was a mere question as to the execution of a treaty in force, or alleged to be in force; but the other involved the ratifications of a treaty of a pecuniary nature, which could only take place with the sanction of Parliament.