HC Deb 19 June 1884 vol 289 cc805-6
MR. ARTHUR ARNOLD

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he has called the attention of Her Majesty's Minister at Washington to the circumstances under which Mr. Alfred Sheldon, a British subject and a native of the borough of Salford, was carried off from his home in Kansas six weeks ago, and for whose release a sum of 14,000 dollars is, together with other conditions, demanded by persons to whom, in letters to his friends containing no indication of the place of his detention, Mr. Sheldon refers as "the Committee," and by whom he states he is threatened with death if these terms be not complied with?

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE

Yes, Sir; in consequence of a communication from Mr. Sheldon's family, instructions were sent by telegraph to Mr. West, on the 4th instant, to inquire into this case. Mr. West has replied that he has acted in the matter; but that some time must elapse before a Report can be received.