§ Mr. PIRIEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has received a proposal from the Government of the United States of America for the appointment of a peace commission, on similar lines to the one authorised by the United States Congress, with the object of furthering the principles of arbitration, mediation, and international concord; if so, whether he has replied to this invitation as well as to a similar communication from the council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in accordance with a resolution passed by that body at its annual conference at Brussels last year urging on all governments the appointment of similar commissions, with a view to the reports of such commissions being presented to the third Hague Conference; and whether he can now state the nature of his reply?
§ Sir E. GREYIn December last the United States Ambassador brought to my notice the joint Resolution passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on the subject. His Excellency inquired whether there was a prospect of co-operation on the part of His Majesty's Government, and if so to what extent; and my reply was to the effect that His Majesty's Government had always taken the keenest interest in the plan of an international agreement for this purpose, and would therefore most readily enter into a full and frank interchange of views with the United States Government upon the subject, and would lend their support to any well-considered and practical scheme which might be brought forward by the United States Government. His Majesty's Government welcomed the joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, and would look forward with sympathetic interest to the conclusions at which the proposed Commission might arrive. Should the Commission be able to formulate a scheme on definite lines, it would receive the most friendly consideration at the hands of His Majesty's Govern-2216W ment. I have also received the communication referred to from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for North Salford on 16th February.