§ 36. Sir E. GRIGGasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Russian Government has ever signed or ratified the Straits Convention annexed to the Treaty of Lausanne; whether it has refused to appoint a representative on the Straits Commission set up by that 16 Convention; and whether he can give the House any information as to the work of the Commission up to the present time?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe Soviet representative in Rome signed the Straits Convention on behalf of the Soviet Government on the 14th August, 1923. No information has been received of the ratification of the 'Convention by the Soviet Government, and no such ratification having yet been deposited in Paris, as provided for in Article 20 of the Convention, the Convention is not yet in force as regards Russia. The question of the appointment of a Russian representative on the Commission has not, therefore, yet arisen. The Commission has already met, and will, as provided for in Article 15 of the Convention, report to the League of Nations annually on its activities.