HC Deb 19 November 1852 vol 123 cc243-4
MR. LAYARD

begged to ask the noble Lord the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs the question of which he had given notice. The public was aware, though not through any official source, that a loan effected by the representative of the Turkish Government at Paris was either rejected altogether, or not ratified, and that repayment of the money advanced, with a certain amount of interest, was offered. He did not desire by anything he said to encourage British subjects in speculating in foreign loans. But he wished to ask the noble Lord if he had any objection to state to the House the information that had been received by the Government as to the repayment of the loan, or whether there was any objection to lay the papers before the House?

LORD STANLEY

said, the subject to which the hon. Gentleman alluded had attracted much attention, but he thought the House would agree with him that it would not be expedient to lay upon the table papers relating to it at a period when it could hardly be said that the proceedings had terminated. He had no objection, however, to state in a few words a general outline of the case. It was well known that the Turkish Minister charged with the negotiation of the loan in question had departed widely from the instructions he had received, and contracted in the name of his Government a loan which no judicious adviser of the Porte could have recommended the Porte to ratify. The consequence was, that, after a trifling delay, the Porte refused to ratify the loan, and at the same time immediately announced its intention to repay the portion of the loan already received, together with interest thereon. Further than that, he could only state that from all the information the Government possessed, it appeared that the Turkish Government were acting in a most fair and honourable manner; and they entertained a confident expectation that the affair would be speedily and satisfactorily dealt with.