HC Deb 24 March 1879 vol 244 cc1506-7
MR. MUNDELLA

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he will furnish Members of the House with the Evidence and Report of the Commission appointed by the French Senate to inquire into the causes of commercial and manufacturing distress in France?

MR. BOURKE

, in reply, said, that Her Majesty's Ambassador had been instructed to obtain copies of the Report and Evidence of the Commission as soon as they had been issued by the French Government. The hon. Gentleman seemed to be under the impression that they had been issued; but that was not the case. Copies would be transmitted by Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Government as soon as the Report and Evidence were issued. As to laying them, on the Table, the Government were sensible of the interest both of the Report and the Evidence to the mercantile classes of this country; but the Papers were very voluminous, and he was afraid would not be very useful to the mercantile classes without a translation. That would be a serious matter to the Foreign Office, and would be also expensive; but if his hon. Friend would communicate with him, they might arrive at some conclusion.