MR. C. BECKETT-DENISONasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether in the proposed Congress of European Powers each State will preserve its liberty of action to retire at any moment that its own sense of national honour and interest may dictate, or whether it is proposed that the majority shall bind the minority; whether England will carefully preserve her right of protest and future independent action against any spoliation or appropriation of Turkish territory by any of the signatories of the Treaties of Paris and London; and, whether, having regard to European interests, England will oppose any delimitations of a new and weak State, under the virtual dominion of Russia, with seaboard and harbours on the Mediterranean or Egean Seas, and will absolutely refuse to recognise any such proposal, even if in a minority in Congress?
§ MR. ONSLOWWith the permission of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I will ask him, before he replies to the hon. Member, the Question which stands in my name—namely, Whether Her Majesty's Government has any knowledge, either official, or from other reliable sources, of the number of Russian troops now before Constantinople and Gallipoli, and of the whole number south 1288 of the Balkans; whether Her Majesty's Government propose to enter the Conference without being officially informed of the terms of peace commonly reported to have been signed between the Government of Russia and the Sultan of Turkey; and, whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to enter the Conference while the Russian troops occupy their present dominant position along the lines of Constantinople and in front of Gallipoli?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, I requested my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Mr. Onslow) to put his Question at the same time as that of my hon. Friend the Member for the West Riding (Mr. C. Beckett-Denison), because to a considerable extent the Answer which I have to give will apply to both Questions. The position of Her Majesty's Government is this. We have agreed in principle to take part in the proposed Conference or Congress, and we are at present in communication with the various Powers who may be parties to that Congress as to the terms and basis on which they are to enter it. It would be inconvenient that I should go at present at all minutely into those questions which are now under discussion; but I can say without the slightest hesitation that in the Congress each State will certainly preserve its liberty of action to retire at any moment, and it is not proposed that the majority should bind the minority. England will maintain her views in the Congress, and she will require that, before entering the Conference, it is understood that every Article of the Treaty between Russia and Turkey shall be placed before the Congress in such a manner that the Conference may judge whether those Articles require to be assented to by the Powers or not. I do not think I can answer the last Question of the hon. Member for the West Riding. I think he will see that it would be inconvenient for me to do so. With reference to the Questions of the hon. Member for Guildford, I cannot give him any information as to the number of Russian troops now before Constantinople and Gallipoli. We have no official information on the subject which can properly be made use of, or which is sufficiently complete to be of value. I can only repeat what I have said with regard to the terms upon which we pro- 1289 pose to enter the Congress. I do not think I can answer the Questions more fully.