§ MR. LEIF JONES (Westmoreland, Appleby)I beg to ask the Prime Minister whether it is the intention of the Government to provide any official hospitality for the delegates who have been appointed by Foreign Governments, on the invitation conveyed to them by our Foreign Office from the British Committee, to attend the Third International Congress for the Development of Drawing arid Art Teaching and their Application to Industries, to be held in London during the present month.
§ *THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. L. HARCOURT,) Lancashire, RossendaleThe Prime Minister has asked me to deal with this Question, and I hope my hon. friend will not think me wanting in courtesy if I decline to give him any detailed Answer to it. My colleagues in making me responsible for Government hospitality have imposed on me a task which is very onerous and very delicate—a task for which I confess I feel myself wholly unfitted—but one which I can only perform at all if I am happy enough to command the confidence of both sides of this House. National hospitality would lose half its utility and all its grace if the reasons for which it was proffered or withheld were to become a matter of Question and Answer in Parliament. I would not for a moment suggest that this House should be debarred from criticising my administration of the fund when the necessary Vote comes up for discussion. They will then be entitled to condemn my conduct of it or to suspend or cancel the policy itself. But even on such a debate I should not be prepared to defend myself by stating the grounds on which I had abstained from offering hospitality to any individuals or delegations, for I am convinced that such a course would absolutely destroy the aim of international comity which is the basis and object of this new departure. I can therefore only ask for the generous indulgence and confidence of the House during the commencement of this experiment and until in their opinion I have ceased to deserve it.