§ LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEYrose to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If instructions have been given to Colonel Wellesley or to 478 other British officers holding similar appointments to report any excesses committed by the Russian Army? Inputting the Question the noble Lord said:—Notwithstanding Mr. Bright's silence at Birmingham, and notwithstanding that the Reform Club by its invitation to Midhat Pasha has disassociated itself from the frenzy of last Autumn and repudiated the assertion that the Turk is "unspeakable" and that the Ottoman Parliament is not worthy of respect and confidence, it is possible that there may yet be a few persons who adhere to the wild opinions disseminated last Autumn. I will therefore preface the Question of which I have given Notice with a few observations. After reading the Papers respecting the treatment of the United Greeks in Poland it will hardly be denied that the Russian soldiers are not wholly incapable of committing excesses. Still less, after what has been reported of the massacre by the Russian troops of the sick and wounded in the hospitals of Ardahan, can it be held improbable that the Wallachian peasants will be exposed to great oppression by the Russian soldiers, when German subjects have been the victims of Russian ill-treatment in Bucharest itself. And it must be admitted that the Russian Army is more deserving of censure for acts such as those at Ardahan than the Army of any other nation, when it is remembered that but a few years ago it was Russia which summoned the nations of Europe to a Conference at Brussels for the avowed, and it may now be said hypocritical, purpose of humanizing warfare and prohibiting explosive bullets. It will also be remembered that, thanks to the wariness of the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, this country was not entangled in the snares that were prepared against the Maritime Powers, for the Brussels Conference came to bought, and separated without being able to carry out the design of its promoters, which was to cripple the offensive and defensive capacity of the Maritime Powers by exempting private ships from the effects of war. What, then, is to be thought of the conduct of Russia in sinking four small Turkish merchant brigs by torpedoes? Instead of following the usage not only of civilized nations, but of all nations, and calling on these vessels to surrender, the Russians destroyed them and sent their 479 crews out of the world without notice, by treacherous engines more repugnant to humanity than the explosive bullets used to blow up ammunition waggons. The recent declaration of a leading St. Petersburg paper was therefore very opportune when it stated that Russia is not the mandatory of Europe, and would not accept interference with its conduct of the war; though this declaration is inconsistent with Russia's previous unfounded assumption that she is acting for Europe, and with the sanction of Europe. Apart from motives of humanity, this question has become necessary in consequence of what has recently been said with regard to Sir Arnold Kemball. That officer, in the exercise of his discretion and in accordance with the gallantry that was to be expected of him or of any British officer charged with reporting on military events and with gaining military experience, exposed himself to considerable danger, and his doing so does not require to be excused; indeed, the gist of Colonel Wellesley's complaint, and the indignity put upon him, was that he was kept in the rear; and it was hardly necessary to state, by way of giving a sop to those who cavilled at Sir Arnold Kemball, that he was charged with the duty of reporting any excesses against the civil population. But if Sir Arnold Kemball received instructions on this point, it is evident that they are equally necessary in the case of Colonel Wellesley, and of any British officer accompanying the Russian Army near Ardahan. I will not ask my noble Friend the Secretary of State to follow me through all the matters I have touched upon; but I will ask him if our neutrality will not be infringed if similar instructions are not given to the British officers in both of the opposing armies?
§ THE EARL OF DERBYIn answer to the Questions of the noble Lord I should say that no special instructions have been given to Colonel Wellesley, or to other British officers holding similar appointments, to report any case of outrage or violence committed by the Russian Army. No special instructions of that kind have been addressed to Colonel Wellesley; but it is well understood that the duty of Military Attachés accompanying foreign armies is to send home reports of any operations of war or any circumstances connected with the 480 campaign or other matters which they may think important or interesting to their Government. I have no doubt that if any act of the kind referred to came under the observation of a British officer he would send home a report of it. With regard to the special case to which the noble Lord has referred—that of Sir Arnold Kemball—it was thought that civil war, attended with outrages, might break out in the provinces to which he was sent, and that Her Majesty's Government might, by timely representations, prevent the recurrence of them. It was with that view that special instructions were given to Sir Arnold Kemball.