§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether, under the provisions of the existing treaties culminating in the Declaration of London, it would be permissible for a foreign merchant ship belonging to a nation at war with Great Britain to pass through the Dardanelles, which are closed to men-of-war, and as soon as she arrives in the Black Sea to mount her guns and prey upon the English merchant ships; whether, in that case, we should still be unable to send an armed cruiser through the Dardanelles for the protection of our merchant ships; and if he will consider what steps can be taken to prevent such a situation?
§ Sir E. GREYThe position in regard to the passage of the Dardanelles is not modified by the terms of the Declaration of London. I cannot, without a more careful examination of existing treaties, say what bearing they have upon this point, but in any case the most certain protection must remain that of the British Fleet.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSDoes not the Declaration of London make this difference, that a merchant ship going through laden with munitions of war would, before 2084 the Declaration of London, have to go back again out of the Dardanelles to her own country before she could start as a privateer?
§ Sir E. GREYNo; the Declaration of London did not affect that point at all. We wanted to effect an agreement on the point, but no agreement was obtained, and the Declaration of London therefore left it alone.