HC Deb 17 December 1888 vol 332 cc436-7
SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL (Kirkcaldy, &c.)

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If he can yet say with whom rests authority to negotiate with the Natives in the neighbourhood of Saukin; whether the Egyptian Authorities have really abandoned all claim to authority in the Soudan beyond the lines of Suakin; whether the Governor General of the Red Sea Littoral administers Kosseir, Suez, and other places on the Red Sea in Lower Egypt; whether he, in fact, holds any, and what, places in the Soudan besides Suakin; and, whether the maintenance of the superior title of Governor General implies a claim to larger territories?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.

The authority to negotiate with the natives in the neighbourhood of Suakin rests with the Egyptian Governor, Colonel Holled Smith, or the officer commanding on the spot, Sir Francis Grenfell. The Governor General does not, I believe, administer Suez; but I believe that he has authority over Kosseir, as he certainly exercises jurisdiction at Mersa Halaib, Roweiya, and Agig, ports of entry on the coast to the north and south of Suakin. The English and French rendering of the title of Vali implies jurisdiction over more than a single town; but he is not styled Governor General of the Soudan.

SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL

What I want to know is, is this question in the hands of the Civil or the Military Authorities?

SIR JAMES FERGUSSON

Colonel Holled Smith is, as I have said before, the Civil Authority and the Governor General of the Red Sea Littoral.

SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL

The right hon. Gentleman has not answered the Question. Is this question with the Civil or Military Authorities?

SIR JAMES FERGUSSON

At the present momentt the military authority of a besieged town is of course supreme.

SIR WILFRID LAWSON (Cumberland, Cockermouth)

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he had any objection to state to the House the Regulations which were in force with regard to foreign correspondents at Suakin?

SIR JAMES FERGUSSON

We are not aware of the existing Regulations; but it is evident that they are not unduly strict, as the newspapers daily publish information from Suakin.