§ MR. DARBY GRIFFITHsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that the Foreign Ambassadors had complained of the non-payment of the July half-yearly dividend of the Turkish Consolidated Debt by the Porte, and had demanded that solid guarantees should be given for the payment of the same in October?
LORD STANLEYSir, there has not been anything in the nature of complaint or demand with regard to the non-payment of the dividends of the Turkish Consolidated 1615 Debt; but Lord Lyons, in a Despatch dated the 30th June, stated that in conjunction with the French Ambassador, he waited upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and subsequently upon the Grand Vizier himself, and urged upon them the importance of the payment of the July dividend of the loan. Since then a telegram had been received from Lord Lyons, reporting that the attempt to obtain a loan intended to provide for the interest had failed, but that measures were about to be taken by the Porte to revive negotiations for another loan as soon as possible, and in the meantime extra interest would be allowed in consequence of the delay.