§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEasked the First Lord of the Treasury, In the event of the Conference not arriving at a conclusion with regard to the financial proposals laid before it, will there be anything to submit to the judgment of Parliament?
MR. GLADSTONEIf I look at the literal sense of the terms of this Question, I shall have some difficulty in replying to it, because I think it would be hardly decorous for me at the time when the Powers of Europe have met together, deliberately and advisedly, for 1883 the purpose of performing certain work, and arriving at certain conclusions, to presume, even hypothetically, that they will leave that work undone; but I think I can perhaps meet the substance of the Question by saying that when the financial matters in regard to Egypt have been disposed of, and when, therefore, the whole subject will become ripe for discussion, Her Majesty's Government will think it their duty to forward by any means in their power any desire which the right hon. Gentleman may then think fit to entertain for discussion and a vote on the subject.
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEThen, in that case, there will be nothing proposed by the Government?
MR. GLADSTONEI cannot look so far into the future. I do not think it would be quite consistent with the respect I owe to the Powers assembled in Conference.
§ MR. PULESTONasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he can conveniently state that the special attention of the Conference will be directed to Article 3 of the Decree of November 1876, confirmed by the Law of Liquidation, which sets forth that the annuity necessary for the service (interest and sinking fund) of the Preference Debt will form the first charge on the Revenues of the Railways and of the Port of Alexandria, and "will remain, in every eventuality, the first liability of the Commission of the Public Debt;" whether his attention has been called to the following remarks of the Right honourable gentleman the Member for Ripon, in the Preface to the English edition of the said Decree, viz.:—
I am perfectly aware that all these regulations may be broken through by an arbitrary act, but that arbitrary act will have to be performed as an overt act, in defiance of public opinion and of the Powers whom the Viceroy has summoned to assist him in carrying out these reforms;and, whether he had considered them in the proposals he has made?
MR. GLADSTONESir, the two passages quoted by the hon. Member have certainly been under the consideration of Her Majesty's Government. They are important passages, and they have, with many other important pieces of evidence, received the fullest consideration of the Government before the Government determined what financial 1884 plans they would propose to the Conference.
§ MR. PULESTONWhat will be the position of these questions if the Conference does not conclude its labours before the Prorogation of Parliament?
MR. GLADSTONEI am afraid I cannot add anything to what I have said; but it must be clearly understood that if, when the matter is completed, which must be by the adjournment of the Conference, it be desired to have a discussion or vote on this subject, it will be the duty of the Government to forward that desire.
§ MR. PULESTONThe right hon. Gentleman misunderstood me. I meant, in the event of the Conference being still in session when the House adjourns.
MR. GLADSTONEI am not prepared to say that the Session will not outlive the Conference. My impression is that it will.
§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORasked whether all these arrangements with reference to the Preference and other debts made in 1876, chiefly under the guidance of the right hon. Member for Ripon, were not founded on an estimate of the Revenue of Egypt, which afterwards proved to be largely in excess of the probabilities of the case?
MR. GLADSTONEI do not think there would be any advantage in entering retrospectively on a discussion of that kind at the present moment. The whole of these matters are before a higher tribunal, and I would rather avoid any discussion of them now.