MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, what is the present state of the negotiations with regard to the recent war in Venezuela and the proposal for 8 arbitration; and are any, and if so what, questions relating thereto still unsettled.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Lord CRANBORNE, Rochester)Article V. of the Protocol signed on February 13th, 1903, provided that any question as to the distribution of the Customs revenues to be assigned for the payment of the claims specified in Article III. of the said Protocol, and as to the right of Great Britain, Germany and Italy to a separate settlement of their claims, should be determined, in default of arrangement, by the Tribunal at the Hague by arbitration. The agreement prescribing the precise terms of reference is now under discussion with Venezuela and with the Powers interested, but as negotiations are still proceeding at Washington, it would be contrary to the practice of His Majesty's Government to make any statement of the kind suggested.