§ MR. GULLAND (Dumfries Burghs)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the Papal decree of August, 1907, which came into force at Easter, and under which Protestants at Malta will be free to observe their own forms of marriage, the Government will institute a process of civil marriage; and whether, in the case of mixed marriages, they will take steps to settle by legislative declaration this long-standing difficulty on the lines of the despatch to the Governor of Malta on the 15th August, 1906, in which the 239 Secretary of State declared that there must be perfect equality of treatment among all denominations, and full freedom of conscience to all persons inhabiting the island.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Colonel SEELY,) Liverpool, AbercrombyI am afraid that the only reply which I can return at present to my hon. friend's Question is that His Majesty's Government is in communication with the Governor of Malta on the subject.