§ 1. Mr. NOEL BUXTONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether the Report of His Majesty's Consuls shows that religious and civil freedom has been established in Bulgarian, Greek, and Servian territory for those who do not desire to declare themselves members of the Churches of those States?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. Grey)If the hon. Member is referring to the territories recently annexed from Turkey, the religious and civil freedom of the inhabitants of those districts is safeguarded under Article 62 of the Treaty of Berlin and although I have received no special Consular report on the subject I have no reason to suppose that the annexing States dispute that the provisions of that Article are of binding force. I am instructing British Consuls, now that a more settled condition of affairs may be expected than was possible till the war was over, to send reports on this subject.