§ MR. LAINGasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he can give the House any information confirming or contradicting a statement of the correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" at Erzeroum, to the effect that in the recent battle near Delibaba Sir Arnold Kemball was in such a prominent position with the Turkish army as to have been mistaken for a General acting with their forces, and to have only escaped the pursuit of the Cossacks by the fleetness of his horse; and, whether the instructions given to Sir Arnold Kemball and any other British officers accompanying the belligerent armies on either side, are such as to prevent them from doing anything inconsistent with a strict observance of the spirit and letter of Her Majesty's Proclamation of neutrality?
MR. BOUEKESir, no information has been received by Her Majesty's Government of the battle, the account of which is published in The Daily Telegraph, and which is reported to have taken place near Delibaba, and Her Majesty's Government, therefore, do not know what the position of Sir Arnold Kemball was on that occasion. With regard to the Instructions, about which the hon. Member asks me, given to Sir Arnold Kemball, I have to state that Instructions sent to Mr. Layard were to the effect that Sir Arnold Kemball was 196 to follow the operations of the Turkish Forces, and that he was to report to Her Majesty's Government the result of those operations. With regard to the position he was to occupy, he was to follow his own discretion in any actions that might take place. With respect to the discharge of his duties generally, he was desired to discharge the duty of a delegate from a neutral Government to a belligerent army, and he was further desired, if he saw any excesses committed on the part of individual soldiers, to report those excesses to the Turkish Government immediately, and to do what he could to prevent them. I may also mention that similar Instructions have been given to the other officers that are following the Turkish Army.