HL Deb 05 November 1930 vol 79 cc44-62

LORD STRICKLAND rose to call attention to the political conditions in Malta, to move for Papers, and to ask His Majesty's Government—

  1. (a) Whether information will be sought through the British Mission at the Vatican as to whether the Holy See has authorized threats of excommunication of candidates and members of the Imperial Parliament for speaking in favour of Maltese Ministers in connection with the Maltese crisis.
  2. (b) Whether assurance will be given that the powers transferred to the King of England, as successor of the Sovereign Grand Masters of Malta, will be exercised to object to the episcopal 45 appointment of candidates against whom the Governor of Malta may have recorded a veto, and whether to strengthen this right, care will be exercised in future not to go beyond its strict interpretation by suggesting candidates for political reasons, or on account of their being conspicuous for British culture.
  3. (c) Whether, without any specific allegation of having attacked faith or morals, the ecclesiastical authorities in Malta have banned the printing, reading and selling of newspapers of the Party in favour of British culture, to the detriment either of the inhabitants, or of the livelihood and interests of British subjects not domiciled in Malta; whilst ecclesiastical authorities subsidise a Press that has violently attacked the Party in favour of British culture, and do not ban newspapers advocating repudiation of allegiance to the King, or Italian literature opposed to religion and morals.
  4. (d) Whether the Government is aware that the Press of the Party that stands for Italian culture in Malta has recently printed appeals to postpone loyalty towards the King Emperor in favour of obedience to another authority.
  5. (e) Whether protection will be given against plots to assassinate the head of the Ministry, by publishing what is known of three plots and one attempt in that direction.
  6. (f) Whether, in view of the fact that a part of Ordinance V. of this year is admittedly ultra vires and the rest has had to be substantially modified, the whole Ordinance will be repealed to facilitate the re-enactment of such portion thereof as may be constitutional.
  7. (g) Whether the first representative of the King of England in Malta reported in a Despatch presented to this Parliament, that the revenue of the Bishopric was four times that of any private landowner, and might be a danger to public order if not equally expended for the education of the clergy.
  8. (h) Whether Monsignor Dandria, canon theologian, and the emissary who has been recently in England to state the case in the Press against Maltese Ministers, said in the Maltese 46 Parliament on the 6th February, 1923, that "the Bishop has no power to interfere in the election or constitution of the two Houses of Parliament."

The noble Lord said: My Lords, my noble friend on the left, who seconded the Address of this House in reply to His Majesty's gracious Speech, invited Conservatives to cross the floor. I do not rise from this side of the House in response to that invitation, but because I feel that those who have had the honour to be appointed in the name of the King as Ministers beyond the seas should stand behind His Majesty's Government in this House with the hope of sympathy and support.

No Maltese question should be debated without bearing in mind that in the past persons in authority have given consideration to weightly reasons why some naval base more suitable than Malta might be selected for our fleets overseas. It is history that at one time Lord Nelson strongly held that opinion, and in our own times Lord Oxford and Asquith (then Mr. Asquith) discussed the question of taking our ships away from Malta.

The main question to be submitted to your Lordships' House to-day arises from appeals called for by the "Nationalist" Press in Malta, and made otherwise to Roman Catholics in England to question candidates for the House of Commons at the approaching General Election, and obtain pledges from them that they will act in a future Parliament against my noble friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies and against Maltese Ministers in view of the action which he arid the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs have taken in connection with the Maltese crisis.

There is no breach of the English law in so doing, but when a candidate for the British Parliament is threatened with excommunication by his Bishop should he continue to speak to his constituents in support, or in defence, of servants of the Crown in Malta, a fundamental question is raised as to what is to be the position of Catholics in the service of the Crown throughout the Empire. I cannot forget that one of the principal factors that made Malta untenable by the French at the beginning of the last century was the activities of ecclesiastics in those days, and it is my duty to be ever vigilant as to any risk that for any reason whatsoever constitutional government is made impossible so that the British flag might be lowered in Malta. If that were to happen, three-fourths of the population would starve, and it is in the interests of the population that it is my duty to offer warnings.

Heligoland and Tangier were bartered without consulting the inhabitants, and the Ionian Islands were given away against the wish of the inhabitants. The Maltese complication has ceased to be a matter of local politics. It has become a question of world-wide importance to Catholics in public life throughout the English-speaking nations. Henceforth Catholics who aspire to enjoy the confidence of the King and his Ministers may have to decide where the line is to be drawn at which they must decline to give obedience to the ecclesiastical authorities on political questions, and where loyalty to the King and their constituents becomes definitely obligatory. We Catholics who are determined to obey our Bishops—according to the injunction of the present Pope to the Maltese Pilgrims in August of last year, in all matters ordained by Christ—must be equally definite in establishing and maintaining the confidence of our fellow-subjects and of the King whom we serve, that there is a point at which the line will be drawn; that is, where the issue is not one of faith or morals.

The Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitallers in Malta established their "sovereignty" in the international sense of the word, when the Grand Master Verdale, who happened to be also a Cardinal, publicly declined in Malta to accept directions in civil matters from the Vatican. He was summoned to Rome to give an account of the disposal of prizes of war captured from the Turks. He defied Cardinal Colonna, the Papal Secretary of State, by suggesting that the Cardinal should send the Papal fleet of galleys into the harbour of Malta to fetch him away. He was not excommunicated, and instead of publishing a Blue-book of the type issued by the right hon. gentleman the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Cardinal Verdale set up a monument opposite to his Palace with his coat of arms in juxtaposition with those of Cardinal Colonna so arranged as to in- dicate that the Grand Master of Malta was sovereign in civil affairs.

The Grand Masters used to select the Bishops, but when the sovereignty passed to a Protestant Ruler that practice was admitted to be unsuitable, and after negotiations with Governor Sir Lintorn Simmons, who was the first British plenipotentiary duly accredited to the Holy See since the Tudor period, an agreement or concordat was entered into by which it was established that the Holy See would not consider candidatures for episcopal vacancies whenever the British Government declared that the candidate was not a persona grata. That determination is arrived at by the Governor of Malta for the time being through the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Foreign Office. I beg respectfully to suggest that it would add greatly to the factors making for peace and quiet in Malta, if it were to be distinctly understood that in future the agreement arrived at between Cardinal Rampolla, Secretary of State, on behalf of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII and Sir Lintorn Simmons on behalf of Queen Victoria, will be strictly adhered to.

When the late Lord Salisbury was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and I was sent to the Vatican on an informal mission to obtain and give certain intimations, His Holiness Pope Leo XIII charged me with a message to Her Majesty's Government that it would be a great mistake for the Imperial Government to press the selection of any particular candidate, because the candidate might be very unsuitable for reasons unknown to the Governor and, if such pressure were exercised and trouble followed, the position was likely to be unsatisfactory if representations for redress were made diplomatically. The exercise of those rights acquired by a concordat should in future be carried out in an absolutely correct manner, with the greatest respect for the rights of the Holy See and it would be very beneficial if no direct suggestions are made, provided the right to object to a persona non-grata is absolutely safeguarded and invariably upheld.

With reference to the Press in Malta, when the Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Robinson, was recently on a mission to that Island, the three editors of my newspapers in Malta waited upon His Grace, and gave explanations and assurances regarding the orders that had been imparted to them in regard to the management of their sections of the Press. These gentlemen gave entire satisfaction to the Apostolic Delegate, as regards their instructions—that they were never in any way even remotely to interfere with questions of religion or morality, and were to be very guarded and cautious when it became necessary to print defences against the political attacks or censurable doings of priests. My constant injunction to my supporters has been similar. I have received no complaints that those instructions, which I had given to the editors of the Press in Malta for which I am responsible, have not been complied with, notwithstanding incessant and grievous provocation. Your Lordships will, therefore, judge of my surprise when last Saturday I learnt from the telegrams in English newspapers that my principal paper in the vernacular, Progress, with the largest circulation, had been banned by the acting Bishop.

It may be difficult for people in this country to realise what that means. In Malta such condemnation may mean immediate financial ruin to a newspaper enterprise. It is not the first time that similar threats have been applied, and the overbearing influence exercised on the Press has now reached a stage at which it may be doubted whether sections of the Press would feel safe in reprinting what I say in this House tinder the privilege of Parliament. In this country and in other countries under the British flag condemnations of that description would not be attempted except upon specific charges, with an opportunity of offering a defence. In these circumstances a free election in Malta is absolutely impossible until both sides can enjoy equality of opportunity in guiding public opinion.

Maltese newspapers printed in Italian and in the vernacular have indulged beyond all conception in abuse so unbridled that it could not be repeated or even described in this House. Members of the Royal Family have not been spared, Governors have been attacked maliciously, attacked personally and politically, and everything English has been held up to calumny and contempt. On the other hand, the systematic development and encouragement of pro-Italian propaganda has been unrelenting. Not only is that traceable in newspapers printed in Malta in Italian, but also in newspapers printed in Malta in English, and in many papers printed in the vernacular. There is evidence that some of these papers have been regularly subsidised, with money coming from abroad, and handled by some one having had relations with governments of foreign countries. There is also an ecclesiastical newspaper always attacking in the most violent manner English culture and the Maltese Ministers appointed in the name of the King in Malta, and this vernacular print acts and threatens in the name of the ecclesiastical authorities, purporting to be the organ of the ecclesiastical authorities, and it was certainly at one time subsidised with Church money and must rely thereon. It is difficult in those circumstances to enjoy the rights of a British subject as regards a free Press notwithstanding that in Malta freedom of religion is guaranteed by His Majesty's Letters Patent.

May I remind my noble friend the Secretary of State that, although he may say it is not his immediate business to protect the interests of British subjects born and domiciled in Malta, we may and do employ in our Press persons born and domiciled in England, and in their interests my right honourable friend is directly responsible to this Parliament for giving them justice. The methods employed in the name of religion may not be examined but the subsidising in competition with the pro-British Press of an ecclesiastical paper free from risk of suppression and the subsidising of associations for promoting Italian Imperialism, comes within the ambit of His Majesty's Government and may become dangerous should the European situation, unfortunately, approach a stage when the imminence of war might develop causes of anxiety. Although in a previous debate my noble friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies intimated that he had no knowledge of a "conspiracy"—he used the word "conspiracy"—in Malta, for the transfer of that Island to a foreign Power, may I suggest to your Lordships' House that what the law calls a conspiracy is not the only danger; there are many degrees of anti-British propaganda short of conspiracy, which, apart from the personal opinion entertained in a certain debate by my right honourable friend, might appear to others, who, perhaps, have further and more reliable information, as a development of hostile propaganda approaching a dangerous stage?

There are Maltese whose mothers are Italian: there are sons of Italians in Malta who, according to the law of Italy, are still Italians, and whose sons again will be Italians and who are liable to military service in Italy if on land, or on sea they come under the Italian Flag: there is in Malta a numerous Italian Colony; and I think my noble friend did not fully gauge the new Italian patriotism of the rising generation and the magnificent rhetorical appeals made to that patriotism in speeches which make an impression in this country, and which are certainly deserving of the attention of all students of international politics. I venture to suggest that my noble friend was mistaken in assuming that the systematic and thrilling appeals of "il Duce" make no impression on persons of Italian birth and nationality settled in Malta.

It so happens that the Italian language is the principal language of the Courts in Malta, and those who have a command of the Italian language above the average, and those who learn it at their mother's knee—and therefore hardly need to learn it in the schools—have a preferential opportunity to monopolise all the best posts in Malta under a bilingual system of examinations not only for the Bar, but for the Church and the Civil Service. That dual system of education and foreign influence which it safeguards—with the fact that we are subject to a triple system of education if our paramount Phoenician tongue is reckoned—is a handicap to which there is no parallel in any part of the world. It is natural that any youth who is thoroughly a master of one of the imported languages without having to learn it at school, can always command a better chance of success in the Civil Service and all positions connected with the Bar and the Church, especially if that language is Italian. Therefore, more weight should be given to the magnificent appeals to Italian patriotism by a Minister disavowing knowledge of a possible "conspiracy" in favour of "the future Roman Empire." It is taught in Italy that the "Latins" colonised Malta, not the Phoenicians, and that Malta is Italian and is part of "Italia irredenta," the rightful possession of the House of Savoy through succession to the rights reserved when the Order of St. John occupied Malta.

A political bargain has been attempted in Malta to re-establish and foster the disappearing domination of Italian culture, and to reintroduce medieval ecclesiastical privileges that were abolished at the beginning of the last century. That is one side of the bargain; on the other side there is offered undue influence over the votes of many Maltese bewildered by the mixing up of politics and religion, and of others who do not as yet enjoy the benefit of education and of British culture. The antidote against such bargains is obviously compulsory education, the spread of the English language and a reasonable freedom of the Press. The elimination of undue preference for those speaking the Italian language and admiring the Italian Flag is also to be considered. Under self government it is obvious that no foreign language should, or could, long remain in a preferential position, in any country under the British Flag.

I am not advocating that the Government of to-day should follow the example of Napoleon, who, after being a few days in Malta, proclaimed the French language to be the only language of the administration of the Government and the Courts. Under our own "tactful" rule, after 130 years, a foreign language, Italian, is still the principal language of His Britannic Majesty's Courts in Malta, and 80 per cent. of the Maltese who do not understand it, may be tried for their lives in a foreign language which is not the language of their King.

The foundations of practical religion have suffered very deeply by this recent mixing up of politics and religion to the extent that 35,000 Maltese last Easter failed to send in the usual certificate as to the annual performance of their religions duties. For that detriment to religion those political priests who have been mixing up politics and religion are principally and directly responsible.

Referring to the constitutional questions, it would be a gracious gesture on the part of my noble friend the Secretary of State if he were to recognise the sacrifices that have been made by Maltese Ministers in upholding and extending British culture if he were to repeal completely Ordinance V of this year. That Ordinance has been proved to be legally erroneous and administratively impracticable. A part of it was immediately repealed by other legislation. It would be quite easy to repeal the whole of it, and to re-enact, if necessary, anything therein that is constitutional. There are portions of that Ordinance as to which, as a member of the English Bar whose life has been spent in contact with constitutional law, and who has drafted for the Colonial Office parts of two Constitutions for Malta and one for the Leeward Islands, I have no hesitation in saying that it is unconstitutional to amend a clause of a Constitution by Ordinance when the Letters Patent lay down that the clause amended cannot be dealt with otherwise than by an Imperial Act. That illegality is what has been adopted in the drafting of Ordinance V in reference to the functions of Maltese Ministers.

I may add that such an attempt to recast the Constitution was quite unnecessary, because the subsidiary Letters Patent establishing the office of Governor in Malta gave immediate and ample powers in any emergency that in the opinion of the Governor on the advice of Ministers called for action in concert with the Privy Council and Joint Committees; and the Governor in any case can use his unfettered judgment after consulting the Privy Council of Malta. The Governor acts on the advice of the Privy Council and on the advice of Joint Committees of the Nominated Council and of the Executive Council under conditions which do not bind the Governor to take the advice of anybody under the Constitution of 1921. Therefore, there was no necessity for Ordinance V to give to the present Governor having long experience in Maltese affairs further power to do that which he wanted. There was already power in reserve without passing Ordinance V on erroneous legal advice; and that Ordinance has caused misunderstandings and hurt the feelings of per- sons who have been sacrificing the best part of their lives, resources and future prospects to give an example of loyalty to the British Crown to electors of Malta.

I may be allowed to renew my thanks to the noble Viscount who, when the Maltese question was previously debated in your Lordships' House, recorded the opinion that, in the conditions of Malta, it was "a vile and malicious libel" to describe me as "a Freemason." And it may interest your Lordships' House to learn that Pope Pius IX and a former Bishop of Malta were similarly attacked for purposes of unjust and malicious defamation. After that defence by the noble Viscount, it is certainly more than disgraceful that Monsignor Dandria, formerly a member of the Maltese Parliament, and now a canon theologian, should come to England for months as an emissary of those who wish to support with political arguments and funds the mixing up of politics with religion. I submit that after that very weighty and responsible declaration of the noble Viscount, it is more than improper that in a newspaper called the Catholic Times the same imputation was again suggested. I trust that those noble Lords in this House who are brought up as I have been in the Catholic religion and determined to practice it in any case and who wish to die therein, will use all their influence in future to discountenance emissaries such as Monsignor Dandria and keep in the background and unwelcomed any one who comes here to foment this sort of religious discord and mischief. Such emissaries should not be accepted by Catholic houses in England as that encourages them to make themselves notorious as has to some extent been the case.

The defence of the pastoral of the 1st of May has been repudiated in England by one of the two leaders of the "Nationalist" Party, which is the Party of which Monsignor Dandria is a subordinate. I refer to a declaration made here by the former Head of the Ministry in Malta, who said that he disapproved of the action of the Bishops in making it a "mortal sin" to vote for the Constitutional or Labour Parties in Malta. The other co-leader of the Party caller Nationalist, who was court-martialled for disloyal activities, has refrained from expressing an opinion on the point. That co-leader of the Nationalists has had his own newspaper ex-communicated in the past because the Gazetta di Malta exposed abuses of the administration of Church property.

The same Monsignor Dandria has been arguing here in the English Press for obedience to the ecclesiastical authority in political matters, but in contradiction of this it is recorded on page 980 of the Maltese Official Report of Parliamentary Debates for the year before last, that in the House of Assembly that reverend member used irreconcilable words, which I myself heard spoken by him in his place in the Maltese Parliament. The words of Monsignor Dandria are as follows:— The Bishop has no power to interfere in the election or in the Constitution of the two Houses of Parliament. I hope my noble friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies will not be too prone or excessively tactful in giving credence to people ready to come to his office to say one thing there after having said the contrary in Malta.

The exploiting of the ecclesiastical condemnation of Freemasonry in Malta by Monsignor Dandria for the purpose of defamation in England is all the more deplorable when it is remembered that he came as an emissary of Monsignor Gonzi, and that this Prelate, after having entered the Maltese Parliament as "a Labour candidate" to make himself of use to those in power as a nominee of the Archbishop and as his confidant, was recommended for appointment to the Bishopric of Gozo by Lord Plumer, Governor of Malta, who is an ornament of the British Order of Freemasons. As was explained in this House by two noble Lords in the former debate on Malta, there is nothing with regard to that Order in England that has been condemned from the Catholic point of view except that a secret oath is taken. There is nothing whatever that is known which would justify a suggestion that Freemasons are hostile either to any religion or to the British Crown; and if that were the case, if these attacks against me on the false allegation of being a Freemason were logical, ecclesiastics would have incurred ex-communication in Malta by sitting in secret in the Assembly under oath known as the Executive Council with Lord Plumer. To be called a "Freemason" before an election in Malta for purposes of defamation is criminal and is punishable, because in Malta it is meant to make a candidate lose an election. I lost one seat for which I stood, and my colleagues lost three or four seats in that Parliament, because of this calumny spread by the colleagues of Monsignor Dandria through the Press and by leaflets distributed in Churches. If this allegation is to be imputed maliciously in England after Lord FitzAlan's pronouncement, it will appear inexcusable that it should emanate from any ecclesiastic, who has sat in secret in a Maltese Executive Council, with a Governor who was an ornament to the Order of English Freemasons.

There is a general consensus of opinion that before an attempt is made to remedy the present political complications in Malta by legislation, the report of a Royal Commission should be available. I trust that I may be allowed to suggest to my noble friend, that after a Royal Commission has reported it would be easy to deal with the complicated constitutional questions by a short one-clause Act of Parliament repealing the present Letters Patent with a view to re-enacting a workable Constitution, which may be advised by the Royal Commission. There is precedent for such action by the Imperial Parliament to facilitate procedure. It is the only way in which certain clauses of Colonial Constitutions can be varied; if it was practicable for Canada, it can be applied to other places. I hope my noble friend will find an opportunity to afford to Members of both Houses of the Imperial Parliament an occasion, either in the House itself or at the Colonial Office, of expressing opinions on the terms of reference to the proposed Royal Commission, and also as regards the personnel that may he appointed to the Commission.

We have observed in England how a systematic campaign in the Press—partly defamatory, sometimes of misrepresentations of facts, and at times unwise—can injure the highest in the land. I have likewise been the object, as have many staunch friends of England in Malta, of similar attacks for years; and a point I wish in this connection to lay before my noble friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies is this: no amendment of the present law of libel is likely to be effective, unless a Royal Commission is appointed and advises a suitable alteration of the Letters Patent. In England Judges are appointed more or less alternately by the several Political Parties; if Judges have any strong political opinons, as some of them have had, they put the same in cold storage as far as concerns their judicial functions; half perhaps appear to tend in one direction and the other half in the other direction in politics. In Malta, until Judges and Magistrates have been appointed after a series of years, in turn, first by one Party and then by another, so as to approximate a balance, the administration of the law will leave great cause for anxiety. It is not a question merely of amending the law. Numbers of libel cases have been before the Courts of Malta in order to find out how best the law might be amended, but the most perfect of laws has to depend on the manner in which it is administered.

As an example of some of the disadvantages under which the Press is suffering I may mention another newspaper—not the newspaper, Progress, that was banned last Saturday, but another newspaper called the Sun, of which the circulation had gone up to several thousands —which was condemned by the Archbishop without any notice to me, without any imputation of a specific breach of my duty in regard to faith or morals. The notice of condemnation was received in the country: I immediately motored into town, went into the printing office, and stopped the presses. That was done to avoid scandal, or perhaps as an exhibition of that sort of extreme tact which at the beginning of the War postponed the building of any submarines. When political controversy reaches a certain stage it may become a question of submarine meeting submarine. That condemned newspaper lost its goodwill, and advertisements, and another had to be started afresh. I would like to cite another case of the harsh treatment of a newspaper—the Times of Malta, printed in English. A sub-editor reprinted from the London Times an article "On Advent." It contained no attack on religion; it was a beautiful example of English literature. For this the Times of Malta was threatened, but the original in the Times of London was not barred, and many Italian and English papers are imported that are irreconcilable with our faith and morals.

I wish to express my great regret that, in the interests of the Empire, and in the discharge of my duties to those who have done me the honour of electing me in Malta, I have felt it necessary to discuss in your Lordships' House matters connected with religion. I also regret the transfer to English soil of the new campaign threatened in the Maltese newspapers against candidates for the British House of Commons and the attempts to extract pledges here in England from candidates for the next General Election. This campaign should be stopped by the joint and energetic action of my fellow Catholics in this House and in this country; otherwise it may become necessary again and again to discuss these religious questions in this Parliament, and the responsibility for this necessity will rest on those who may now hesitate to find the means to suppress or to discountenance such tactics as the sending of an emissary from Malta—naturally with his expenses paid by interested parties —to employ two months in Press propaganda here in England. No Leader of a Party can expect the confidence of supporters if he does not find a way and a correct place for stating his defence when ruthlessly attacked. I beg to move.

LORD PASSFIELD

My Lords, I hope the House will agree that it would be inadvisable for me to discuss in detail the various points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Strickland, in his Motion, particularly in view of the comprehensive statement that I made in this House on June 25. I must not be taken as admitting the accuracy of the statements made by the noble Lord, on most of which, in fact, I have no information whatsoever. I confess that I fail to understand the largely cryptic, historical references which the noble Lord made to the Ionian Islands, Tangier, Heligoland and the Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitallers.

I need not assure your Lordships that there is absolutely no question of any alteration in the condition of Malta as one of His Majesty's Possessions. The Order in Council and the Letters Patent of June 26 made provision for carrying on the Government of Malta during the present interim constitutional régime. Since then I have been giving meet careful consideration to the difficult questions that have arisen in Malta. I have fortunately been able to discuss matters with the Governor, Sir John du Cane, who was in this country on leave of absence. I think your Lordships may rest assured that every means is being explored whereby the Constitution of Malta may be established on a firm basis for the future.

With regard to the second part of the noble Lord's Question, I am not quite clear whether the noble Lord's suggestion is that the Archbishopric of Malta is likely to be vacant in the near future. If so, I can only say that I have no information bearing out the suggestion. I may, perhaps, remind the House that in any such event, as the noble Lord has indeed mentioned, the position would be governed by the terms of the Agreement arrived at in March, 1890, between Sir Lintorn Simmons and the then Cardinal Secretary of State, by which the Holy See undertook to give previous notice to His Majesty's Government before proceeding to fill a vacancy in the Episcopal See of Malta or that of Gozo, and also, by "verbal communications of a strictly confidential and private character," to assure itself beforehand of His Majesty's Government's concurrence in any appointment proposed. Your Lordships will perhaps excuse me if I do not go any further into the rather complicated details of the position in Malta. I am not sure that those matters ought to be raised in this House, but at any rate, if they are raised, I must confess that I am quite unable to cope with the noble Lord. I have no information about practically all those details.

With regard to the publication of further Papers, I do not know whether the noble Lord presses for that, but I want to say to your Lordships that I do not consider that further publication now is necessary or that, in the present state of things in Malta, it would be at all desirable. In Command Paper No. 3588 of 1930 the Government have already published the important Papers, and there is really nothing more that could usefully be published at present. The Order in Council and the Letters Patent of June 26 have, of course, been published in Malta since the Command Paper was issued. I hope the House will allow me to refuse to give Papers at the present moment, but I am quite ready to repeat what I said in the House on June 25—namely, that the Government will be prepared at some future time to entertain a request for all the Papers up to date. In the present state of feeling in Malta it is extremely undesirable that we should add to the number of charges, counter-charges and rejoinders which have been made, and certainly, in the interests of peace in Malta and of the future change in the Government which must shortly take place, it would be very far from being desirable that further Papers should be published at the present time. I hope that the noble Lord will be good enough not to press his Motion.

LORD STRICKLAND

My Lords, with reference to the request for the publication of Papers, may I say that from many points of view Malta is still mediæeval, and a study of historical records of the fine art of assassination as practised in Italian Republics will show that the best defence against the repetition and success of such plots is publicity. There can be no better antidote than to set out before the public the methods and agencies that come to light and to rely upon public opinion to create the impression that political assassinations are not popular and not likely to succeed, and likely to be punished. There have been three plots, and one attempt, to assassinate me holding the office of Head of the Ministry; and therefore among the Papers, that I hope your Lordships' House will desire to have published, is an affidavit connecting the leaders of the Nationalist Party with one of those attempts. I should also like to see published in England a letter printed in Malta from the Archbishop in which, just after the attempt at my assassination, he expressed an opinion that the would-be assassin was irresponsible; this prejudged a fundamental question that had to be decided before a Court of Law, and at a time when that question was still sub judice. I submit that it would be in the interests of protecting public servants whose lives are threatened if this and similar correspondence could be published now, and whenever more becomes available from time to time.

I hope I may appeal to members on this side of your Lordships' House to hold that the days of secret diplomacy are almost over, and that it is no longer practical and useful to keep secrets for long. At a certain stage, publicity is useful; it is better from an administrative point of view that secrecy which is no secrecy should not be cherished.

As regards the Ionian Islands, I am somewhat surprised that my noble friend seems to have forgotten all about them. He and I after him are the two senior members of the Colonial Service, and although we were not in the Service when the Ionian Islands were given over, we have had opportunities to pass on the traditions of those days. Nobody forgets that Mr. Gladstone was said to have given the islands away because he was a master of ancient Greek whilst their inhabitants talked modern Greek, and perhaps for some other reason which has tot been recorded. As an example of the hearing of history in political matters, I might remind my noble friend that the Order of St. Michael and St. George was established to acknowledge the services of those who worked well for the Crown in the Ionian Islands and Malta, and also to acknowledge the services of a reasonable number of the holders in Malta of titles of nobility recognised by the Crown as existing previous to the British sovereignty. When the Ionian Islands were given away, the Order of st. Michael and St. George also was given away in the sense that, whereas when the Ionian Islands formed part of the Empire, Maltese civil servants and the Maltese nobility shared with the inhibitants of the Ionian Islands a certain number of recommendations for promotion and appointment to that Order, it seems that now, notwithstanding the ancient statutes and the history of the Order, there are very few Maltese civil servants in the Order, whilst it numbers a great many English civil servants. Moreover not one of the Maltese nobility is so honoured except myself; and, as far as my present position is concerned, I do not come in reckoning, having been four times a Governor outside Malta. Hence, if the past history of the Ionian Islands and Malta when coupled together can have some weight with my noble friend, he may consider further recommendations far the Order of St. Michael and St. George, as regards the holders of ancient titles of nobility in Malta recognised by the Crown and see how far he may be able to give some sympathetic consideration to my submission on these questions. I beg leave to withdraw my Motion for Papers.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.