§ 17. Mr. GINNELLasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on whose application, and on what grounds, passports were given to the French ecclesiastics now in Ireland, and for what purpose they were allowed to proceed 315 there at a time when no other civilian is allowed to travel from France to Ireland or from Ireland to France; whether the concession promised by the French Government to the Church is conditional on the success of those ecclesiastics in diminishing the opposition to Conscription in Ireland; and, in either case, whether it will be conceded immediately or not until after the War?
§ Mr. JAMES HOPE (Treasurer of the Household)My right hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State has asked me to give the answer to the question. I would refer the hon. Member to the reply returned to him on the 1st instant.
§ Mr. GINNELLAs the reply was a refusal, will the hon. Gentleman say whether those travellers held any communication whatever with the Foreign Office; by means of what document do they travel at a time when other civilians are not allowed to travel, and for what purpose do they travel?
§ Mr. HOPEI am afraid I have not exact knowledge on any of the points the hon. Member has raised. All I can say is that there is the very strongest improbability in the suggestions conveyed by the question. I have no doubt that the object of the French Mission is to demonstrate the complete solidarity of the Church in France with the French nation in the prosecution of the War.
§ 33. Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is yet in a position to inform the House of the extent, if any, to which the French ecclesiastics now in Ireland have succeeded in diminishing opposition to Conscription there; and whether the War Office has given a guarantee that, in the event of their success, Conscription shall not be applied to ecclesiastical students as it is in France?
§ Mr. FORSTERI have made inquiries, but I have not been able to obtain any information on the subject to which the hon. Member refers.