§ MR. YERBURGH (Chester)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he will give the House an early opportunity for a complete and full discussion of the new Anglo-Japanese Agreement.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURIn answer to my hon. friend, I have to say that of course there is more than one course open to the House. If the Opposition were to suggest that they were prepared to put down a substantive Motion objecting to the course which the Government have pursued, I need hardly say that, in accordance with universal practice, we should find a day in the immediate future for its discussion. Supposing, however, that the Opposition were not prepared to move what, no doubt, would be equivalent to a vote of censure, then the only ordinary method of discussing this or that interesting question connected with Foreign Affairs is on a Vote. I should be prepared as soon as I can to put down the Vote on Account, with the Foreign Office Vote first, on which it might be discussed, or at some subsequent date the Vote for the Foreign Minister, on which it might be discussed. Those are the methods which suggest themselves to my mind as being the most convenient.
§ SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN (Stirling Burghs)Can the Vote on Account be moved before the Estimates for the year are laid on the Table?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI believe the Vote on Account can be moved before the general Estimates are on the Table, but I hope the general Estimates will be in the hands of Members at no very late date.