§ SIR EDWARD REEDasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign 845 Affairs, Whether the Government will lay upon the Table of the House the Correspondence which has taken place with the Government of Japan respecting the application of the Laws of Japan to foreigners; the trade in opium; and the closing of the Foreign Post Offices; if he will state the present position of the question of Treaty of Revision; and, when the Papers upon this subject will be presented to Parliament?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, the question of the application of the laws of Japan to foreigners is dealt with incidentally in the general Correspondence relating to Treaty revision. The importation of opium into Japan is prohibited by Treaty, but a question has arisen with reference to the supply of opium for medicinal purposes to the foreign community, and it is proposed to discuss this question in the course of the negotiations. The foreign Post Offices were closed by agreement in 1879, and there will be no objection to lay the Papers relating to this subject on the Table, together with the general Correspondence, when the negotiations are concluded. At the request of the Japanese Government, it has been agreed that the negotiations for the Treaty revision shall take place in Japan, and Her Majesty's Government are at the present moment in communication on the subject with the other Treaty Powers, and with the Chambers of Commerce in this country, and the principal firms interested in the trade with Japan. Her Majesty's Government have signified their willingness to proceed with the negotiations on the basis of Article 22 of the Treaty of 1858, under which notice of revision was given by the Japanese Government, and which provides that either party may demand a revision of that Treaty with a view to the insertion therein of such amendments as experience shall prove to be desirable. It is not possible at present to state how soon the Papers on the subject may be presented to Parliament.