§ THE EARL OF CLARENDON, who had given notice to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs respecting the Appointment of two Engineer Officers to define the Boundaries of Montenegro, said—My Lords, three days ago my attention was called to a paragraph under the head of "Military Intelligence," in The Times newspaper, as follows:—
Orders have been forwarded from the Horse Guards to the head-quarters of the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham, directing a surveying expedition of the Royal Engineers to be held in readiness to proceed to Montenegro, for the purpose of making an accurate survey of the boundary line to Constantinople. The officers named to accompany the expedition are Captain Cox and Lieutenant Sitwell, R. E. Another expedition of the Royal Engineers is also in course of formation for the purpose of proceeding by the overland route to Persia to survey the Turkish and Persian boundary line. This expedition is likely to be absent from England three years.Now, I do not suppose for a moment, that, whatever benefits may be in store for the Montenegrins, it is intended to extend the boundaries of that country to Constantinople or the Dardanelles. That then is not the point upon which I wish to ask for any explanation from the noble Earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs; but I think the opportunity a fitting one for asking for an explanation respecting Montenegro, the affairs in regard to which country I believe last year caused a great deal of trouble to my noble Friend, but with respect to which very little is known in this country. I suppose that subjects of more pressing interest have occupied the attention of the public since the meeting of Parliament. Still the subject of Montenegro is not without its interest, because both the question itself and the manner of dealing with it involves a course of policy, the importance of which is not to be measured by the geographical insignificance of the territory. For many years past Russia, either in a 237 direct or indirect manner, has exercised considerable influence in Montenegro, the inhabitants of which country profess the Greek religion; and at the Conference of Paris, when the subject of the Moldavo-Wallachian Principalities was under consideration, it was stated that circumstances had led to a general belief that Russia proposed to adopt the same policy in Montenegro as she had followed in those Principalities, and the Russian Plenipotentiaries were invited to make some statement by which all doubts might, if possible, be cleared up. The Russian Plenipotentiaries did not hesitate to declare that they felt satisfied that Russia had no other relations with Montenegro than such as were caused by the sympathies of the Russian Government and the friendly sympathies of those mountaineers towards Russia. The Plenipotentiaries present of Austria, England, and Turkey, said they looked upon that as a declaration on the part of Russia that she would exercise no undue or exclusive influence in Montenegro. The Turkish Plenipotentiaries moreover declared that although, of course, Montenegro must be regarded as an integral portion of the Ottoman empire, yet the Porte had no intention of altering the status quo. The disclaimer upon the part of the Russian Plenipotentiaries, to which I have alluded, was regarded as no less satisfactory than important, because Montenegro had never been considered independent or the suzerainty of the Porte disputed, and the Congress remained of opinion that the matter was settled. But a short time afterwards Prince Danielo, the ruler of Montenegro, addressed a circular to all the great European Powers which had been represented at the Conference, claiming his independence, and announcing to them that he should come to Paris and London with the view of making good his claim. When I heard that such was his intention I thought it right to inform the French Government that we should object to receive Prince Danielo otherwise than as a subject of the Porte, presented through the Turkish Ambassador, and, if I remember rightly, we obtained their concurrence in the expediency of adopting that course. Be that as it may, Prince Danielo was subsequently received at Paris without the intervention of the Turkish Ambassador, but did not proceed to London, being perhaps under the impression that that ceremony would not here be dispensed with The Porte afterwards expressed its readi- 238 ness to accede to the wishes of Prince Danielo, and to grant him such an accession of territory—his own territory being barren and unproductive—as was deemed to be necessary for the subsistence of his people. The Porte hoped by this means to put an end to that disgraceful system of plunder which they had pursued in the neighbouring country; but the terms on which the grunt was to be made were that Prince Danielo should acknowledge the sovereignty of the Sultan —a proposal which he refused to accept. I must now observe to your Lordships that there was an insurrection in Montenegro, and Turkish forces were sent to suppress it. Prince Danielo afterwards took part in the insurrection, and during a suspension of arms—an armistice, I may call it, on the part of the Turks—he fell upon the Turkish forces and massacred a great number of them, and horribly mutilated a large number who fell into his hands. It was then that an intervention took place on the part of France and Russia, and I hope my noble Friend will explain its exact character. It was a matter which seemed very unfriendly towards the Porte, that two French ships of war should be sent to the coast, as though for the purpose of preventing chastisement being inflicted on the perpetrators of this outrage. And then, under the pretext that the Turkish forces had invaded and attacked the Montenegrins, and had invaded the territory and a village belonging to them, and had consequently violated the independence of Montenegro, it was proposed that Commissioners of the Five Powers should be appointed, who should be sent out to survey the country and mark out the new boundaries on the spot, and to them the settlement of the matter was to be referred. But, my Lords, I believe that proposal was never carried into effect, and subsequently the matter was referred to the representatives of the Five Powers of Constantinople; and I suppose it is in consequence of the decision to which they had come, or a desire to give effect to the agreement to which they had come, in reference to marking out the new boundaries, that the Government has ordered these two engineer officers to be sent out to Montenegro. But, my Lords, what has taken place in Montenegro is connected with a system of which, in the case of the Principalities and elsewhere, we have had abundant evidence, and if insurrection is to be excited, and Turkey to be shorn of her power, first in one place and then in 239 another, it is quite clear that that integrity of the Ottoman empire which we have made war to maintain, and which forms the basis of the Peace of Paris, will be soon at an end, and that we must prepare for that dismemberment of Turkey which it has hitherto been the policy of the great Powers to avert. But whatever may be the conduct of our Government in this matter, I hope it will be made clear to the world that we remain faithful to that policy which we stand pledged to uphold. What I wish to ask my noble Friend, therefore, is, under what circumstances the question of the boundary of Montenegro was referred to the representatives of the five Powers at Constantinople; what was the determination to which they came; for what precise purpose have the officers to whom I have alluded been sent out to Montenegro, and whether he has any objection to lay the papers connected with the subject on the table of the House?
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYsaid, that no one, he imagined, would be more astonished than the gallant officer who it was stated would go out in command of this alleged expedition when he read the statement that had been made by the noble Earl, allotting to him so arduous a task as that which had been described in the newspapers. He (the Earl of Malmesbury) would now, in answer to the remarks of the noble Earl, proceed to explain to their Lordships the events that had taken place previous to this demarcation of the frontiers between the territories of Montenegro and Bosnia. It would save their Lordships' time if it were admitted at once that up to a certain point—up to the period at which the noble Earl left office—nothing could be more accurate and exact than the account the noble Earl had given of those events; and it was no more than natural that it should be so, because the noble Earl was not only Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at that particular time, but was, moreover, himself at Paris as the Plenipotentiary of Great Britain when this question was diplomatically discussed, and when the protocol to which the noble Earl alluded, and which he quoted, was signed. Me believed it was on the 28th of February last year, just as the change took place in Her Majesty's Government, that Prince Danielo, having taken the steps described by the noble Earl, and having been received at Paris, as the noble Earl had described, without any diplomatic introduction by the Ambassador of Turkey, his 240 suzerain, returned to Montenegro, and from his mountain habitation addressed a circular, or wrote a despatch, to various Powers of Europe—certainly to the Government of England—requesting that the limits between his territory, and that of the Sultan should be marked out, so as to prevent a repetition of those hostile and unseemly raids and insurrections which for centuries past had taken place in that wild region. On the receipt of that despatch, and wishing, as Her Majesty's Government always did in matters of great importance in connection with their foreign policy, to act in unison with their allies, he (the Earl of Malmesbury) instructed Lord Cowley to place the case before the French Government, and to propose to them either to give the English Government some suggestions on the subject or to take such active practical measures whereby a repetition of these contests might be prevented, either by the establishment of a line of demarcation or by some other method. The answer received from the French Government, he certainly did not consider satisfactory; for the French Minister stated that he was not able to make up his mind clearly as to the right of suzerainty of the Porte over Montenegro; that it was not quite clear that any infraction of the rights of Montenegrin independence had taken place, or that other Powers were not inclined to lean to the opinion that Montenegro maintained any other position than that of an independent state, and that the Russian Government had subsequently declared that their opinion amounted to conviction. He (the Earl of Malmesbury) need not refer to the terms of the protocol of Paris, to which his noble Friend had alluded, to show that the Russian Plenipotentiary at Paris disclaimed the existence of any other relations between Russia and Montenegro than those of sympathy, or to prove from the part taken by the Turkish Plenipotentiary, Ali Pacha, that Turkey had no intention of altering the status quo as it existed in March, 1856. Neither would he describe the correspondence that had since taken place on this subject. It was an obsolete matter, now amicably settled, and entirely with the approbation of the Porte, and which it would hardly serve any good purpose to reopen at the present moment. But this he might say that when the French Government threatened that if Turkey did not immediately agree to the proposed demarcation being carried into effect they 241 were prepared to recognize the independence of Montenegro, Her Majesty's Ministers announced it to be their intention to withdraw under those circumstances from the scheme of demarcation, to which they were otherwise entirely favourable, and to rest upon the treaty itself for the maintenance of the integrity of the territories of the Porte. It was then deemed the most advisable course to pursue to invite a more general concert of the great Powers in laying down this boundary. It was subsequently proposed, and the Porte approved, that they should all join in sending out a commission to ascertain and settle the point about which there was most difficulty, namely, what was really the status quo in March, 1856, when Ali Pacha declared the status quo which the Porte recognised and adopted. The Porte agreed to the proposal, and accordingly commissioners were proposed and sent; and at this point of his narrative the noble Earl committed a mistake. He said that a commissioner from Montenegro was added to those of the other Powers. That was not the case. It was refused.
§ THE EARL OF CLARENDONNo, he said that it was a part of the proposition that a Commission for Montenegro was included, but that that was objected to.
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYWell, it was proposed that there should be a Commissioner for Montenegro, and Her Majesty's Government objected, inasmuch as it would be an indirect way of placing Montenegro on the same equality and footing as the other five Powers; but inasmuch as it was considered that it might act as an embarrassment in defining the line of frontier, if the authority of the Commissioners was not recognized by Prince Danielo, he (she Earl of Malmesbury) considered, and the Powers agreed, that it would be very much to the advantage of the future if Prince Danielo were permitted to send a delegate or a deputy in his own name, who should recognize the limitation laid down by the Forte's consent; otherwise it was quite clear the arrangement might have been upset again, and the Prince might hereafter have said, "I was no party to the boundary to be laid down, and I altogether repudiate such determination." The boundary, therefore, was laid down by the Commissioners so appointed, the deputy or delegate on the part of Montenegro having no voice in the matter. The act was taken by Colonel Churchill, the English Commissioner, and 242 by the other Commissioners, to Constantinople, and there a proces verbal was drawn up by the assembled Plenipotentiaries, and agreed to by them, and it was understood by the Porto, it being then the month of November, that as soon as the season would allow of it, engineers should be sent to stake out the ground, and settle once and for all what was the frontier line of the province of Montenegro as separated from Bosnia. At one moment, as the noble Earl has stated, the solution of the question promised considerable difficulty, but the Government thought it was their duty to resist any encroachments over the rights of the Ottoman Porto as they had been publicly acknowledged by the Conference of Paris; they thought it was a duty they owed to humanity to prevent, if possible, a repetition of those reckless and horrible scenes of plunder and insurrection which were described as constantly taking place, owing to the feuds of these mountaineers. And certainly, I think, we have a right to expect that what we have done will be attended with advantage and success. He need not add any observations to those that bad fallen from the noble Earl opposite, for he himself, who had signed the Treaty of Paris, could not be more anxious than were Her Majesty's Government to maintain all its provisions inviolate and valid, not only because it was a matter of international good conduct and of diplomatic faith, but because it was essentially for the benefit of Europe that the balance of power should be fully and fairly maintained, as connected with the integrity of the Turkish empire. With respect to the intrigues adverted to by the noble Earl he regretted them as much as he did. He could only say that Her Majesty's Government looked upon all these great international questions not as poets but as politicians, and that the cry about nationalities and other epithets of that kind, which were only used to excite the imagination or mislead the mind, but which had no foundation in real political economy or wisdom, were as entirely foreign to the policy of Her Majesty's Government as they would be to the mind of the noble Earl himself. He considered that the integrity of the Ottoman empire was important to the welfare of Europe, to the preservation of peace, and the prevention of prospective disturbance and wars, and that it constituted an essential part in the great European system that had prevailed since the Peace of Paris and the Treaty of Vienna.
§ LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEYsuggested that it, would be very desirable that a portion of the correspondence should be laid upon the table, which would show the grounds upon which the delegate from Montenegro had been appointed, the exact part taken by this country in the affair, and the reasons for the abandonment by Prance and Russia of the pretensions which they had originally set up.
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYsaid, that if the noble Lord would give notice of his intention to move for the papers referred to, he would consider what answer he should give to the proposition. At the same time he thought the noble Lord must see that after a question in dispute, which had involved a great deal of discussion and something more, had been amicably settled it would hardly be desirable to make those discussions public. But if the noble Lord doubted the character in which the delegate from Montenegro was present with the Commissioners, or the part which he had played, he could only assure the noble Lord that in the procès-verbal which was signed at Constantinople the delegate's name was not to be found, and that he was only there to signify the acquiescence of the Prince of Montenegro in what was done.
§ LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEYwould not press for papers if the noble Earl thought that it would be detrimental to the public service to produce them; still he thought that portions of the correspondence might be laid upon the table without inconvenience, which would show the exact part which this country had taken in the transaction.
§ House adjourned at Seven o'clock, till to-morrow, half-past Ten o'clock.