CAPTAIN MACKINNONsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If it is true that Commodore Sir William Wiseman, R.N., was appointed some months ago, by the Admiralty, to proceed to Constantinople to assist in the organization of the Turkish Fleet; and if this appointment has been approved by the Secretary of State to the Turkish Government; and if it is true that this Officer is not now to proceed to Turkey, in consequence of another British Officer of the Royal Navy having accepted the appointment without the sanction of the Government; and what steps the Government have taken to recall this Officer, to allow Sir William Wiseman to take up the duties he was appointed to last summer?
LORD STANLEYSir, the facts of the case are these: In May of last year, the Turkish Government expressed a wish that a British Naval Officer of rank should be selected to act as one member of a Council of Naval Officers, a kind of Turkish Board of Admiralty, which has been lately established at Constantinople. The English Government saw no objection to that in principle, Turkey being at peace with all nations, and Sir William Wiseman was accordingly selected by the Admiralty for the post in question. But it was thought better that the appointment should remain in abeyance until the termination of the Cretan war. The Cretan war, however, still continues, though upon a reduced scale; and therefore Sir William Wiseman's appointment has not been carried out. In December last, it was reported at 1072 the Foreign Office that Captain Hobart, of the British Navy, was about to enter the Turkish service. I communicated with the Admiralty upon the subject; they made inquiry, and Captain Hobart was informed that in the event of his taking service under the Turkish Government, without the consent of the English Government, he could not be allowed to remain in the English Navy. A letter was shortly after received from Captain Hobart, stating that he had accepted the office of member of the Turkish Admiralty Board, and offering, in consequence, to resign his commission in Her Majesty's service. That resignation has, I understand, been accepted. No communication has been made to me by the Turkish Government upon the subject of Captain Hobart. I may add, in conclusion, that the appointment is one of a civil and not of a military character, and therefore Captain Hobart, in accepting it, has not violated any Law of this Country.