§ Mr. BUTCHERasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will specify the dispatches or other communications with foreign Powers in which he has made it clear that this country will not agree to anything which is going to circumscribe our rights as belligerents in dealing with belligerents in regard to the arming of merchantmen on the high seas; and 1796 whether he will lay upon the Table of this House any documents relating to this matter which have not already been laid?
§ Sir E. GREYThere has been no occasion to address any foreign Power on the subject, as the action that His Majesty's Government might take in such a contingency will not depend upon the consent of other Powers. All questions as to the treatment by a belligerent of enemy vessels are excluded from the jurisdiction of the proposed International Prize Court, with the exception of the special cases enumerated in Article 3 of the Prize Court Convention of 1907, which do not touch upon the point now raised.
§ Mr. BUTCHERDo I understand the right hon. Gentleman to say that he has not made clear to the other Powers as yet, the mode in which we are going to treat decisions of the International Prize Court?
§ Sir E. GREYI have already said that the decisions of the International Prize Court will be of cases between belligerent and neutral. The case we should have to consider would be between belligerent and belligerent if we were at war with another Power. I am bound to reserve, as far as the present Government and future British Governments, full liberty to make whatever announcement they think fit, if they should happen to be at war, as to how they should treat merchant vessels converted on the high seas.
§ Mr. BUTCHERDoes the right hon. Gentleman intend to address a dispatch to the Powers, the signatories to the Convention, to make that quite clear?
§ Sir E. GREYI think to announce in advance or tie the hands of this Government or tie the hands of any future Government with regard to the course they might think fit to adopt, if unfortunately we were at war with another Power, would be very unwise.