§ MR. STANHOPE (Burnley)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can make any announcement as to the names of the British representatives at the ap poaching 'Peace Conference at the Hague; and whether, having regard to the position already taken by this country for the promotion of arbitration, in the case of the Alabama, Behring Straits, and Venezuelan difficulties, and in the proposals made for the conclusion of an Anglo-American Treaty of Arbitration, Her Majesty's Government will take the initiative of laying before the Peace Conference a scheme for establishing a permanent system of inter national arbitration?
§ MR. BRODRICKNo announcement can be made as to the choice of the British Plenipotentiaries until the forma! invitation to the Conference has been received and the date of the meeting fixed. It would not be convenient to-give any undertaking as to proposals to be brought forward in the Conference. But Her Majesty's Government will be ready to use their best efforts to promote the principle of recourse to arbitration and mediation for the prevention of war.