HC Deb 25 April 1898 vol 56 c964
MR. F. S. STEVENSON

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is able to communicate the arrangements made by the International Finance Commission at Athens for devoting a portion of the new Greek Loan to the purpose of rebuilding the houses in Thessaly destroyed during the hostilities of last year; and whether a remission of taxation will be granted to the inhabitants of that province who have lost their homes, their live stock, and their agricultural implements?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

The employment of the new Greek Loan is regulated by Articles 7 and 10 of the Law of Control published in Greece, 1st November, 1898. The question of the particular employment of any sum which may be available after the payments specified in those Articles have been made must be considered by the International Commission in consultation with the Greek Government; but we have not heard whether it is in contemplation to devote any, and, if so, what portion of this sum to the relief in Thessaly. The question of remission of taxation in that province is clearly one not for the International Commission, but for the Greek Government.