§ MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTasked the First Lord of the Treasury, If Her Majesty's Government will take steps, with or without the assistance 1259 of the other Powers, to ascertain by means of a plebiscite among the inhabitants of the Provinces which, without consulting Turkey, it is proposed to transfer from the rule of the Sultan to that of the King of Greece; and, whether it is the wish of these people to be thus dealt with?
MR. GLADSTONEWith regard to the plébiscite proposed by the hon. Gentleman to be held in certain portions of the Turkish Empire, we have no power and no intention of taking any step of the kind. We do not think that means exist for obtaining such a result. With respect to the second part of the Question, all I can say at present is, that so far as the Representative of Her Majesty's Government was concerned, and so far as the Representatives of the other Powers assembled in Berlin were concerned, they proceeded with the most careful attention in their power, and according to the best evidence they possessed, with respect to the wishes of the people to be dealt with in the manner proposed.