§ MR. CREMERI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he will lay upon the Table of the House the precise terms of the convention agreed to at The Hague Conference, also a list of the countries that took part in the conference; which of the countries there represented have since ratified the convention and appointed representatives upon the tribunal, together with the names of the representatives who have been appointed; and whether the tribunal is now definitely constituted and ready to commence its duties.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe three conventions signed at The Hague—namely (1) relating to arbitration; (2) to the laws and customs of war by land; and (3) to maritime warfare—together with the countries which took part in the conference, will be found in Parliamentary Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 1, 1899 (C9,534). The first mentioned has not yet been ratified by China or Turkey, while the ratifications of the United States, Roumania, and Servia are subject to certain reservations. The second was not signed by Switzerland or China, and has not yet been ratified by the United States, Sweden, Norway, and Turkey. The third has not yet been ratified by China or by Turkey. 955 If and when these accessions and ratifications are completed, the conventions will again be laid before Parliament in the "Treaty" series. Of the countries represented at the conference, all have appointed representatives at the permanent Court of Arbitration with the exception of China, Greece, Luxemburg, Montenegro, Persia, and Turkey. A list of representatives is annexed. The answer to the last question is in the affirmative.