§ MR. STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the French and Italian Notes to the Porte ask that a satisfactory answer shall be given by the 10th of July to the demand for compensation put forward on behalf of French and Italian subjects, respectively, for losses sustained in connection with the massacres of August, 1896, at Constantinople; whether they threaten to lay an embargo on a portion of the Greek War Indemnity money in the event of their claims not being satisfied; and whether, in view of the procrastination which has taken place, the British Government has taken or will take the same course, with the object of securing that the claims, rights, and interests of the British commercial community in Constantinople shall receive, without further delay, the consideration and the satisfaction to which they are entitled?
MR. CURZONI understand that Notes have been addressed by the French and Italian Embassies to the Porte on the subject referred to, but I am not in a position to give information as to their contents, and I am not aware whether the 10th of July has been fixed as the date by which the answer is to be given. Her Majesty's Chargé d' Affaires has pressed the Foreign Minister for a settlement of British claims, and Her Majesty's Government must await the result of the further consideration of the question by the Council of State before deciding what further action it will be desirable to take in the matter.
§ MR. STEVENSONDo I understand that the Notes presented by the French and Italian Governments are distinct from the identic Note which the right 802 honourable Gentleman referred to yesterday?