§ MR. LYNCH (Yorkshire, W.R., Ripon)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Imperial funds out of which the Turkish Government have undertaken to make good all deficits in the Macedonian Budget will be applied for that purpose in conjunction with the revenues from the increased Customs duties, or only in the event of such revenues being insufficient; whether the Customs revenues will be applicable to meet military expenditure; and whether it will be permissible for the Turkish Government, after His Majesty's Government have given their consent to the increase in the Customs, the amount of which almost exactly equals the deficit in the Macedonian Budget, to apply the whole of the funds now absorbed by the deficit to the finding of the kilometric guarantee for the Baghdad Railway.
§ SIR EDWARD GREY(1) The Turkish Government have undertaken to make good any deficit in the Macedonian Budgetout of Imperial revenues generally. If the increased Customs duties are devoted to this purpose, the deficit to be made good from other revenues will pro tanto be diminished. (2) The proceeds of the increase of 3 per cent, in the Customs duties will, if the increase is agreed to, be applicable to the Macedonian Budget as a whole, of which the military expenditure forms a part. (3) For the last part of this Question I must refer the hon. Member to the first paragraph of the reply made to his Question on the 13th instant,† viz., that
† See Col. 9581365 His Majesty's Government have no control over Turkish revenues, the allocation of which has not formed the subject of any agreement between the two Governments. But it is estimated that the increased Customs duties will fall considerably short of what is required to make up the deficit in the Macedonian vilayets, and, in view of the difficulty which already exists in meeting this, it cannot be assumed that, if assistance is given, large sources of Turkish revenue will automatically be set free for other purposes.