MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in accepting the invitation of H.I.M. the Tsar to the Conference to consider the possibility of limiting armaments, Her Majesty's Government have followed the course adopted by Lord Derby in 1874 by instructing its delegate not to entertain in any shape, directly or indirectly, anything relating to maritime operations or naval warfare, and not to be led into any discussion which may, however remotely, affect 700 those operations or that warfare; whether he can now state what conditions, if any, any been made by Her Majesty's Government in accepting the invitation to the Conference; and what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to secure this country against the adoption of any conclusions which might be calculated to impair the future development or the present exercise of the full naval power of Great Britain in time of war?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Sr. JOHN BRODRICK, Surrey, Guildford)I fear I can only state, as I have already done in reply to a Question on the subject of the Peace Conference, that it is not expedient to make any public announcement as to the instructions to be given to the British delegates.