§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any representations have been received from the Spanish Government proposing a change in status in the Government of the neutral zone of Tangier; if so, what is the nature of these representations; what replies were made by His Majesty's Government, and whether the correspondence can be laid on the Table?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir Austen Chamberlain)The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The Spanish Government have asked that Tangier and its zone should be incorporated in the Spanish Zone of 2 Morocco, or alternatively that they should be given a mandate to administer Tangier. His Majesty's Government have replied that they could not agree to the first alternative, but that they were ready to discuss with the French and Spanish Governments the conditions on which the accession of the Powers which have not yet accepted the Tangier Convention could be obtained. In the course of such discussion it would be open to the Spanish Government to put forward their views and wishes with due regard to existing treaties and agreements. I will consider whether Papers can be laid later.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIs it the attitude of the Government that this is a question which can be usefully discussed at the League meeting at Geneva or that it is an entirely separate question which must be so treated?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI do not think Geneva would be the place for this discussion. Obviously a discussion among the Powers I have named can only be preliminary to a discussion with the other Powers.