§ MR. SEYMOUR FITZGERALDSir, I wish to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether, if the Conference now sitting at Paris to consider the propriety of prolonging the French occupation of Syria should be invited to consider the question of an increase of the force now in that country, Her Majesty's Government are prepared to refuse their assent to that proposal; and whether the information that he has received leads him to believe that the number of 6,000 men, to which the French force is limited by the Convention, has not been exceeded? I understand that a despatch has been written from St. Petersburgh by Prince Gortschakoff to Count Kisseleff, the Russian Ambassador at Paris, instructing him not only to support the prolongation of the French occupation, and that without any limit as to time, but also to support the proposition for an increased force. But whether that increased force is to consist of French troops, or of troops supplied by some other Power, I am not aware. The noble Lord will, of course, recollect that by the Convention the number of French troops is limited to 6,000.
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELLSir, I must 1541 say I think the first Question is rather an extraordinary one to come from the hon. Gentleman. It does not appear to me at all certain, from the despatch to which lie has alluded, that the Russian Government mean to propose an increase of the force in Syria. The despatch is not a very prudent one for the Russian Government to write, but it does not say that the Russian Government recommends, or that Count Kisseleff is instructed to consent to an increase of that force. The assent of Her Majesty's Government must depend first on the nature of the proposition, the character of the forces to be sent out, and the reasons for recommending an increase of the force at all; and until a proposition of that kind is made, I should be loth, in this House especially, to give any decided opinion upon the subject. With regard to the second part of the Question, we received accounts from time to time, of the number of French troops in Syria. They have not been of a very precise kind, but they show generally that the number of the French force is about, or somewhat exceeding 7,000. At one time the accounts said 6,000, and at another 5,000; and when we asked whether the troops numbered 8,000, the answer was below 8,000; but I do not think, taking the number of sick, that the force is much beyond 6,000. I think the effective force in Syria is between 6,000 and 7,000, and the whole number of French troops between 7,000 and 8,000.