The question of the Wireless Telegraphy Convention was raised in
the Commons on Tuesday by Sir E. Sassoon, who moved for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the proposals embodied in the Convention. He took the line that it was of paramount importance that no agreement should be sanctioned which should tie the hands of the State, involve the slightest risk to us, or restrain the complete freedom of our maritime communications until Parliament had had ample opportunity of pronouncing on the main bearings of the problem. Major Seely, who seconded the Motion, dwelt chiefly on the strategical aspect of the question. In view of the enormous importance of wireless telegraphy to an island Power in time of war, he urged that we should not hastily commit ourselves to the far-reaching proposals of the Berlin Conference. None of the Great Powers of Europe had anything like the same interest as ourselves in the ques- tion. Amongst those who voted at the Conference were Brazil, Bulgaria, Persia, Roumania, Uruguay, and Monaco, while our Colonies, most of which had wireless stations of their own— Canada alone, we believe, has thirty—were not represented, though they were to be at similar gatherings in the future.
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