§ 11. Sir R. GOWERasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether His Majesty's Government has formerly replied to the requests made by the Spanish Government for British approval and collaboration in emergency measures in the Tangier zone; and whether he has any statement to make upon the matter?
§ 3. Captain WEDGWOOD BENNasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any proposals have been made to His Majesty's Government for the rectification of the frontier of the international zone in Tangier, for the establishment of a cordon of Spanish troops inside the Tangier zone, for the disarmament of natives therein, and for the repatriation of natives of the Spanish zone resident in the Tangier zone?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe French and Spanish Governments have proposed that British naval forces should co-operate in the surveillance of contraband traffic in arms in the territorial waters of Tangier and also within a six-mile limit of the shores of the French and Spanish zones in Morocco; that contingents of British, French and Spanish troops should 1263 be despatched to the Tangier zone to prevent supplies of all kinds from reaching the rebels and if necessary to protect the town itself; that the Sultan's representative at Tangier, the Mendoub, should be instructed to hand over to the Spanish authorities any natives of the Spanish zone who may escape into the international zone; and finally that the inhabitants of the international zone outside the town of Tangier, and in the district of Fahs, should be disarmed.
His Majesty's Government have replied that whilst they are ready to carry out the obligation imposed by the Tangier Convention to co-operate in the suppression of contraband in Tangier territorial waters, they prefer not to participate in any action outside these waters, nor can they acquiesce in the implication that territorial waters extend beyond a three-mile limit. His Majesty's Government are opposed to the proposed despatch of contingents to Tangier. Such a step, far from averting might probably provoke an attack on the town by the Riff tribes. Provided that the sphere of military operations is not extended to the Tangier zone, there would seem, according to the information received by His Majesty's Government, no substantial ground for believing that the tribesmen will attack it.
As regards the proposal to hand over all natives of the Spanish zone to the Spanish authorities and to disarm the Fahs, His Majesty's Government feel that apart from the practical impossibility of executing these measures, they would be useless as a means of bringing the rebellion to an end, and likely to cause additional unrest and trouble. His Majesty's Government agree that the Tangier zone should not be allowed to become a centre of rebel intrigue. Power to prevent this is entrusted by the Tangier Convention to the Administration and His Majesty's Consul-General at Tangier will support his colleagues in setting the necessary machinery in force in cases where the offence is proved.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYI am very grateful for the answer of the right hon. Gentleman, and I do not want to put a hostile supplementary question at all, but is he aware that the violation of the Tangier zone commenced with the other side, by the Spanish side, and is His Majesty's Government making repre- 1264 sentations on that aspect of the case, which might have the effect of involving us, through our Tangier interests, in the fighting?