§ * MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, under Article 12 of the agreement between the Turkish Government and the Imperial Ottoman Bank, which is confirmed by Article 1 of the Règlement for Macedonia, it is provided that the deficit in the Macedonian Budget shall be met by drafts on the present yield of the existing customs duties; whether such deficit is at present substantially made good; and whether, in that case, the additional revenue to be raised by the three per cent. increase in the customs duties will set free for other purposes such funds at present expended on the administration of Macedonia.
§ SIR EDWARD GREYWe understand that the Turkish Government are wholly unable to meet out of existing revenues the obligations imposed upon them by Article 12 of the agreement with the Ottoman Bank, and in fact the last deficit has not yet been made good. With regard to the last paragraph of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave him on the 14th instant‡.