HC Deb 21 April 1921 vol 140 cc2227-8

Considered in Committee.

[Sir E. CORNWALL in the Chair.]

Motion made, and Question proposed,

"That it is expedient to authorise the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of expenses incurred under any Act of the present Session for carrying into effect the Treaty of Peace between His Majesty and Hungary."—[Mr. G. Harmsworth.]

Mr. HOGGE

Surely my hon. Friend who represents the Foreign Office will give us some account and estimate of the amount of money that this is likely to entail. He was courteous enough to show to us the terms of the Motion, and ask us whether we would be agreeable to it being taken to-night. We are quite agreeable, but we ought to put on record some kind of explanation of what it means. I do not invite him to make a long statement, but I ask him to say something about it before we agree to it.

The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Cecil Harmsworth)

I am very much obliged to the Committee for allowing this question to be raised, and indebted to the courtesy of my hon. Friend (Mr. Hogge) for agreeing to take the Committee stage, if the Committee be agreeable to that being done. We had issued an explanatory memorandum showing for what purpose this money would be re- quired. A White Paper has been issued, and perhaps it will be for the convenience of the Committee if I read a few words therefrom— The expenses include the British share of the expenditure of (a) the mixed arbitral tribunal, (b) the International Commission of the Danube, and (c) the British Members of the Boundary Commission, of the Allied Commission of Control, and of the Reparations Commission. The Paper states that the expenses under (c)—that is the larger number of these bodies set up under the Treaty—are recoverable from the interested States. I am sorry that I cannot give anything like an estimate of the charges which will fall due under this Resolution, but they will be of a very moderate character, and will fall on the Estimate of the Department concerned. At a later stage I might be able to give an approximate estimate as to what the sum will be, but in any case it will be a very modest sum, and the greater part of it is recoverable from the States interested in the work of these Commissions. I shall be grateful to the Committee if they agree to take this Resolution to-night.

Resolution to be reported To-morrow.