§ MR. BOWRINGsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with reference to his 1294 recent statement in Committee of Supply respecting the abolition of the Consulate at Chicago, Whether Her Majesty's Government have resolved upon such abolition in pursuance of the Report of a Select Committee of this House; and, if so, in what year that Committee sat, and what precise recommendation was made by it on the subject?
MR. OTWAYsaid, in reply, that the Committee to which his hon. Friend referred was not, strictly speaking, a Committee of that House, although Members of Parliament sat on it, and it was presided over by a Cabinet Minister, Mr. Milner Gibson. It was known at the Foreign Office by the name of the Official Committee, and was appointed in 1858 to see how far effect could be given to some previous recommendations. The proceedings were laid before Parliament in 1860, and if they had not attracted the attention of his hon. Friend, he would venture to recommend them to his notice. The Report was precisely as he (Mr. Otway) stated the other night. It recommended the abolition of the Consulate at Chicago, Buffalo, and Elsinore. The Consul for Chicago resigned, and Lord Clarendon then determined upon the abolition of the Consulate.