APPENDIX No. 9. PAPER forwarded by Sir Frederick Butler, K.O.M.G., C.B. FOREIGN OFFICE. STATEMENT showing the cost of the Departments in the Foreign Office in 1913-14 and 1925-26. * In addition, two officers were employed in this department whose salaries were paid from the Diplomatic and Consular Vote. 61421 Y 3 Owing to the increase of work caused by the war, several new departments have been formed to deal with part of the work previously performed by other departments of the Office and with correspondence in connection with the new States set up under the Peace Treaties. The following indicates the changes which have taken place in the "territorial departments: Central Department.-This Department deals with Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugo-Slavia, Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece. In 1913-14 the Western Department dealt with Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary, and the Eastern Department dealt with Yugo-Slavia (Serbia) Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece. Northern Department.-This Department deals with the Soviet Union, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Afghanistan. In 1913-14 the Eastern Department dealt with Russia and Afghanistan, and the Western Department dealt with Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Egyptian Department.-In 1913-14, the affairs of Egypt were dealt with by the Eastern Department. As indicating to some extent the increased volume of business dealt with by the Foreign Office it may be noted that in 1913 the total number of documents received and sent was 129,119; in 1926 it was 292,169, without counting the very large mass of correspondence dealt with by the Passport Office. The large increase in the volume of correspondence has necessitated a more complete and detailed system of registration, apart from the fact that in 1913 the Office was understaffed so far as the lower grades were concerned. When I was before the Public Accounts Committee on the 22nd of March, I was requested to endeavour to ascertain when and why it was decided not to make arrangements for recovering the expenditure on the Mixed Arbitral Tribunals by levying fees or a percentage on awards made by the Tribunals. I have made such inquiries as I can of officers of this department and of the Board of Trade who might be in a position to supply information on the point, but I regret to say that I cannot find anyone who remembers whether this question was discussed when the Peace Treaties of 1919 were framed. I can, therefore, only record the fact that the Clauses of those Treaties relating to the setting up of Mixed Arbitral Tribunals did not contain any provision as to the levying of fees, and that no arrangements for the levying of fees were made when the Tribunals were set up. It is to be presumed that the precedent of the Treaties of 1919 was followed when the Treaty of Lausanne was drafted, and when the AngloTurkish Mixed Arbitral Tribunal was set up under the terms of that Treaty. The Committee, in questioning me, referred to the fact that the Clearing Office for Enemy Debts levies a charge of two per cent. on the monies with which it deals. It may not be irrelevant to call attention to the difference between the Clearing Office, which is an administrative department under the direct and single control of His Majesty's Government, and the Mixed Arbitral Tribunals, which are judicial bodies set up by His Majesty's Government jointly with certain foreign Governments. There is the further point that many of the cases brought before the Mixed Arbitral Tribunals are in the nature of test cases, so that it might be somewhat unfair that all the expense should be borne by the particular case which may be selected as a test case. APPENDIX No. 11. PAPER forwarded by Sir Frederick Butler, K.C.M.G., C.B. FOREIGN OFFICE. STATEMENT regarding the total staff of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service in 1913-14 and 1925-26. (Diplomatic and Consular Services Vote, Subhead A.) (Qs. 1201-1203.) The total staff of the Diplomatic Service as shown by the Estimates for 1913-14 numbered 162. In the Estimates for 1925-26 the number for which provision was made was 271, an increase of 109. The increase is made up as follows: : It should be noted that the title, Commercial Attaché, has been abolished and that Commercial Counsellors and Secretaries are now provided for in the Vote for the Department of Overseas Trade. APPENDIX No. 12. PAPER forwarded by Sir Frederick Butler, K.C.M.G., C.B. FOREIGN OFFICE. EXTRA RENT AT THERAPIA. (Diplomatic and Consular Services Vote, Subhead G.) (Qs. 1218-1223.) The cost of summer quarters at Therapia in 1925-26 was £658, viz., £400 for the rent of a house for the Embassy and £258 for extra rent allowances for nine members of the staff who could not be accommodated in the house. APPENDIX No. 13A. PAPER forwarded by Sir Frederick Butler, K.C.M.G., C.B. FOREIGN OFFICE. THE INTER-ALLIED RHINELAND HIGH COMMISSION. (Qs. 1053-1058, 1224-1230, 1234-1241.) 66 In order that the occupation of the Rhineland might not be a military one pure and simple, a civilian body styled the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission was set up to be the " supreme representative of the Allied and Associated Powers within the Occupied Territory." It was given the power to issue ordinances so far as may be necessary for securing the maintenance, safety and requirements of the Allied and Associated forces," and the ordinances when so published were to "have the force of law and be recognised as such by all the Allied and Associated military authorities and by the German civil authorities." The High Commission is an integral part of the occupation, and, so long as the occupation lasts, it is impossible to dispense with it. Its functions were of great importance in the early days after the war, and its importance increased during the Ruhr period. After the signing of the London Agreement in August, 1924, however, it was possible to think of cutting the Commission down, and, by the Financial Agreement of 14th January, Gold marks 1925, it was arranged that the maximum charge for the Commission 10,000,000. should not exceed 10 million gold marks for the first Dawes Year (as 15,000,000. against an estimated 15 million in previous years). This sum was to be allocated to the French, British and Belgian Departments of the High Commission in the proportion of 62:16:22. The arrangement was modified for the second Dawes Year by a further agreement of 25th September, 1925, according to which the maximum charge for the Commission was not to exceed nine million gold marks, Gold marks this sum being allocated as follows: ... Gold Marks. 5,580,000 ... 1,440,000 1,980,000 ... French Department of High Commission 9,000,000. A recent financial agreement, reached in January, 1927, further reduced the amount of the cost of the Commission to a maximum annual charge of three million, three hundred and thirty-five thousand gold marks, Gold marks allocated as follows: 3,335,000. French Department of High Commission Gold marks. 1,535,000 900,000 900,000 These provisions are to remain in force until the 10th January, 1930, or until a modification in the present zones of occupation. |