MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury were His Majesty's Government consulted in respect of, and did they agree to, the Supplementary Decree of September 1st, 1903, relative to the Turkish Debt; why has no correspondence and no copy of the Decree in question yet been laid upon the Table of the House; and, in view of the fact that on April 23rd, 1903, His Majesty's Government had withdrawn their countenance from the Bagdad railway scheme, and had declined to give the assurances required for that scheme as to the appropriation of a part of the Turkish Customs revenue in aid of the contemplated guarantee, can he explain whether any change of policy has since been adopted by His Majesty's Government; and whether the extra payment out of Customs receipts provided for by the Decree of September, 1903, will be available in aid of a Bagdad railway guarantee.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOUR1. The Supplementary Decree of September 1st, 1903, was the result of negotiations between the Porte and the representatives of the bond-holders on the Council of the Ottoman Public Debt. His Majesty's Government were not parties to these negotiations, but the Decree was subsequently communicated to them by the Turkish Government and by the British Council of Foreign Bond-holders, with a request that they would take note of it; 2. The Decree was published in the Stock Exchange Official Intelligence. There is no objection to laying a copy on the Table of the House; 3. There has been no change of policy on the part of His Majesty's Government; 4. The extra revenue now derived by the Turkish Government under the above-mentioned arrangement will form part of the ordinary Customs receipts, and can presumably be applied to such purposes as the Turkish Government may think fit. The case would of course be different in the event of an increase of the Turkish Customs Tariff, which could not take place except with the consent of the Powers and on such conditions as they might think necessary to impose.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESDo I understand that the Government was not consulted before the Decree was issued?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI should like notice of that Question. My impression is that they may have been informed, but were not officially consulted. If the hon. Gentleman will put down a Question I will inquire.