§ 22. Mr. MORELasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the information now in the possession of His Majesty's Government as to the output of material of war by the Austrian State armament factories, inquiries will be made and reports called for in regard to the extent, character and destination of this traffic?
§ 30. Mr. MORELasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, seeing that, by Article 134 of the Treaty of St. Germain, Austria is formally prohibited from manufacturing arms, munitions and war material of any kind for foreign countries and from exporting such material, but has been, and is in fact, manufacturing such material, both in the Austrian State factories and by private firms situate on Austrian soil, and exporting it; that, by Articles 149 to 155 of the Treaty, the inter-Allied commission of control, now apparently designated as the organ of liquidation, takes powers to control every branch of Austrian industry connected with armament construction but is not itself empowered to deal with transgressions of the Treaty; and that the inter-Allied commissions of control in ex-enemy countries are themselves controlled 15 by, or working under the supervision of, and in connection with, the Conference of Ambassadors, upon which Great Britain is represented; he will state whether Article 134 of the Treaty has been, and is being, infringed with the knowledge of the organ of liquidation and of His Majesty's representative on the Conference of Ambassadors or without their knowledge; and what step he proposes to take in the matter?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe hon. Member has communicated to me certain information on this subject, which I am causing to be investigated. His Majesty's Government are considering what can be done regarding the illicit manufacture and export of arms in and from Austria.
§ Mr. HOPEIs it worth while harassing the unfortunate Austrians when the output from Skoda remains unchecked?
§ The PRIME MINISTERWe have to deal with problems as they arise. The whole question of the manufacture of arms is a very serious one, and His Majesty's Government are doing their best to deal with it.