§ 47. Mr. RENDALLasked the Prime Minister whether it is permissible for the 1013 private hospitality of the British Navy to be extended to a general waging war against the Government of a country with which we are at peace; and whether, seeing that such an act is likely to increase the suspicion of the Russian Government that we are aiding its adversaries, does he propose to advise the officers concerned in entertaining General Wrangel to defer further hospitality of the same kind till the existing state of war is at an end, and meanwhile to assure the Russian Government that the British Government is, and intends to remain, absolutely neutral in the struggle now proceeding?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI cannot add anything to previous answers on this subject. It has been the custom, and is, indeed, a tradition in the Navy, to allow to senior officers a wide discretion in extending private hospitality to guests. I may perhaps add that, in view of another case which has just come to the notice of the Admiralty, where this custom has been unduly stretched, they have telegraphed to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, emphasising the necessity of exercising strict neutrality.