§ MR. DARBY GRIFFITHsaid, he would now beg to ask the noble Lord, Whether there is any truth whatever in the assertion made by M. Lesseps, in his Report to the Shareholders of the Suez Canal, in which, for the purpose of palliating or defending the employment of forced labour on that work, he undertakes to say, "The Company of the English Steamers, in their establishment at Suez, is provided by the Egyptian Government with the porters and labourers necessary for the embarkation and debarkation of their cargoes by means of forced labour (travail obligatoire)"?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, in reply, that he could not be answerable for any assertion of M. Lesseps. He could not say whether or not it was a fact that the Peninsular and Oriental Company employed any forced labour for the purpose stated by the hon. Gentleman. It was, however, certain, that whenever the order of the Sultan for stopping forced labour in Egypt came into operation, it would apply equally to persons employed by the Peninsular and Oriental Company as to those employed by other parties in Egypt.