§ MR. T. W. NUSSEY (Pontefract)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he can inform the House if either belligerent has the right, and, if so, to what extent, to interfere with cables between the territory of the opposing Power and any other part of the world?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYA convention, to which Great Britain, Spain, and the United States were parties, was concluded at Paris, on March 14, 1884, providing for the protection of submarine cables. But by Article XV. thereof in time of war a belligerent, signatory to the convention is free to act with respect to submarine cables as it the convention did not exist. I am not prepared, therefore, to say that a belligerent, on the ground of military exigency, would, under no circumstances, be justified in interfering with cables between the territory of the opposing Power and any other part of the world.