§ 27. Mr. TREVELYANasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Ambassadors' Conference have decided that Vilna shall be awarded to Poland; and what authority the Ambassadors' Conference has for making a decision?
§ Mr. McNEILLThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The Ambassadors' Conference derives the authority to take such a decision from Article 87 of the Treaty of Versailles, which stipulates that
the boundaries of Poland not laid down in the Treaty will be subsequently determined by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers.
§ Mr. MORELWould the hon. Gentleman tell the House what is the exact status of this Ambassadors' Conference? Is it a continuation of the Supreme Council? What is the connection of the Council with the Conference?
§ Mr. McNEILLThe Ambassadors' Conference, of course, represents the Governments who have given them their powers, and the decision in this case is taken by the Allied and Associated Powers, who are acting through the Ambassadors, who are assembled, for convenience sake, in Paris.
§ Captain BERKELEYIs it not the fact that the whole relations of Poland and Lithuania, which comprises the question of Vilna, were some time ago handed over to the Council of the League of Nations for decision, and has the Council of the League concurred, or had any opportunity of expressing its opinion about this award by the Ambassadors' Conference?
§ Mr. McNEILLNo, Sir; it is not correct to say that it was handed over to the League of Nations. The League of Nations were informally asked if they would devise conditions and submit them to the parties interested. They did so, and the parties, as a matter of fact, rejected those terms; consequently, the responsibility for a decision was thrown back upon the Allied and Associated Powers.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODHad our representatives on the Ambassadors' Conference instructions to agree to these terms with any qualification?
§ Mr. McNEILLI would like notice of that question. I could not say offhand.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYHas this House any authority at all over these decisions arrived at by our representatives to this Ambassadors' Council; is it out of our jurisdiction altogether?
§ Mr. McNEILLThe hon. and gallant Gentleman knows perfectly well the manner in which Parliament can exercise its authority in matters of this sort.
§ 52. Mr. TREVELYANasked the Prime Minister whether it is the policy of His Majesty's Government, as illustrated by the decisions of the Ambassadors' Conference last week in the case of Vilna, to substitute the actions and decisions of the Ambassadors' Conference for the actions and decisions of the League of Nations?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe decision of the Ambassadors' Conference, as has already been explained to the hon. Member, was directly based on the authority conferred on the Allies by Article 87 of the Treaty of Versailles. There is no question of substituting the actions and decisions of the Ambassadors' Conference for those of the League of Nations, whose authority with regard to questions which fall within its competence necessarily remains unimpaired.