§ DR. CLARK (Caithness)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty why the proclamation of the Admirals to the people of Crete, on 11th February 1897, is signed by Admiral Harris as "English Rear Admiral," and why "Angleterre" was used instead of "Grande Bretagne."
§ THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN,) Worcestershire, E.If the hon. Member will turn to page 11 of the Paper (Turkey No. 9) recently presented to Parliament, he will find that the Proclamation of the Admirals in Cretan waters was signed in the translation by Admiral Harris, as 559 Rear Admiral in command of the British Naval Division.
§ DR. CLARKsaid that if the hon. Gentleman would turn to page 11 of the Report on Turkey No. 9, he would find that the proclamation was signed by Admiral Harris as Rear Admiral, and that instead of it being signed by him on behalf of Great Britain, it appeared to have been signed on behalf of England.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINI think that what happened is this: that the Secretary of the Committee of Admirals, who drew up the minutes of the matter, filled in the title of English instead of British Admiral.
§ DR. CLARKsaid that the matter required some explanation, as there had been an illegal use of the term "English Admiral." If the hon. gentleman would read the proclamation, he would see that the various Admirals were distinguished as belonging to their various countries, but in the case of the British Admiral, it was given as the English Admiral. That was an illegal use of the term.
§ MR. R. PIERPOINT (Warrington)asked whether there was any adjective in the French language which was the equivalent of "British?"
[No answer was given.]