§ MR. FRANCIS STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be, under the terms of the Convention connected with the issue of the new loan, the date for the completion of the evacuation of Thessaly by the Turkish troops?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir MICHAEL HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.According to the terms of the preliminaries of peace, signed in Constantinople on the 18th September, 1897, by the six mediating Powers, the evacuation of Thessaly must be completed within one month from the date when the Powers shall have recognised that arrangements in connection with an International control for Greek finance have been made in conformity with the principles laid down in the Treaty, and when, further, the date of publication of the loan for payment of the war indemnity has been fixed by the International Commission.
§ MR. FRANCIS STEVENSONI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the loan for 8,000,000 drachmæ, to be issued by Greece for the purpose of dealing with certain aspects of the distress in Thessaly after the evacuation of that province by Turkish troops, is included in the total of £6,800,000 guaranteed by Great Britain, Russia, and France, or whether it is a separate loan?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERThe total of £6,800,000 to be guaranteed by Great Britain, Russia, and France includes provision for all such expenditure as was considered absolutely necessary by the International Financial Commission, which was recently assembled in Athens, and reported on the financial situation. In the Report of this Commission the sum of 12,500,000 drachmæ is noted as an estimate of requirements for assistance to Thessalian and Cretan refugees, for repatriation of the Thessalians, and for help to agriculturists in Thessaly. I have no information concerning any separate loan to be issued by Greece for any purpose whatsoever.