§ 1. Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what relation the numbers of the Army in Hungary bears to the number for the standing army laid down in the Treaty of Le Trianon: and why the terms of the Treaty relating to disarmament have not been carried out?
The UNDER SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Cecil Harmsworth)Under the Treaty of the Trianon, concluded with Hungary (Article 104) "the total number of military forces in the Hungarian Army shall not exceed 35,000 men, including officers and depot troops," and, under Article 102, "within three months of the coming into force of the present Treaty the military forces of Hungary shall be demobilised to this extent." The Treaty has not yet been ratified, and is, therefore, not yet in operation. I am informed that the present forces in Hungary number about 36,000, and it will be the duty of the Military 160 Mission of Control, established under the Treaty, to reduce these forces to 35,000 within three months of the coming into force of the Treaty.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIs it not a fact that there are some 350,000 armed and organised men in Hungary, and does not this entail the border States keeping up large armies, thus delaying their economic recovery and hampering our trade with them?
Mr. HARMSWORTHI should be glad if my hon. and gallant Friend will give me some particulars of this vast army. I have no such particulars myself.
§ Lieut.-Colonel Sir S. HOAREWill the hon. Gentleman telegraph to our representative in Buda Pesth, and make inquiry, in view of the fact that it is generally said that there are something like 300,000 men in arms in Hungary at the present time, and there is a great deal of anxiety in the neighbouring States?