§ 1. Captain BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware of the disappointment prevailing in the North of France and in Paris that nothing has yet been done to remedy the existing position of French subjects whose claims for damage to private property, although judicially inquired into by an impartial tribunal set up by the Minister of War and found to be both just and moderate, have frequently been either met by an inadequate offer by the British Claims Commission or a refusal; if the Government will now take the necessary steps, not only to secure for French subjects the equal justice enjoyed by British subjects, but to meet the wishes of the French Government, by setting up an impartial tribunal or court of appeal, consisting of a French officer and a French civilian and a British officer and a British civilian, with a British chairman as president; and if, in view of the harm which has been already caused, and must necessarily increase if no steps are taken to remedy the present situation, he will confer with the War Office and ask that the new President of the Claims Commission shall be an officer with a thorough knowledge of French laws and customs, as well as of the French language?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir Edward Grey)It is our earnest desire to avoid any just cause of complaint on such a subject. The matter was settled to the satisfaction of the French Government by an exchange of Notes between that Government and His Majesty's Government on 18th December last, and every endeavour will be made to overcome difficulties if any still exist.