§ SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)To ask the Prime Minister whether, in view of the expiration of the five years' term for which the launching of explosives from air ships was by agreement of the Powers prohibited, and the possible absence of present unanimity and difficulty of enforcement of any new agreement, he can give the House general information as to any decision of the Defence Committee upon the subject; whether defensive airship experiment and construction is treated as the exclusive concern of the Army, or how far the Admiralty is being consulted with regard to it.
(Answered by Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman.) As the question of the renewal of this agreement will doubtless be considered at the coining Conference at the Hague, I think it better to say nothing on the subject of renewal at the present moment. The Naval and Military Departments are watching such progress as has been made with aerial navigation, but experimental work, so far, has been confined to the War Office.