§ MR. J. D. WHITE (Dumbartonshire)To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what are the international arrangements, if any, with reference to Spitzbergen; what is the nature of the titles under which companies formed for mining and other purposes hold concessions of territory there; and what is the nature and extent of these concessions.
(Answered by Secretary Sir Edward Grey.) Spitzbergen does not, so far as His Majesty's Government are aware, form the subject of any international arrangements, no country having asserted any rights of sovereignity over the island. His Majesty's Government have, therefore, no cognizance of any territorial concessions in Spitzbergen.