§ MR. CAINEasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Commercial negotiations with France are about to be renewed in Paris?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, the French Government proposed some time ago to Her Majesty's Government, that the Commercial Negotiations which bad been begun in London should be resumed at Paris on the 22nd instant. After examining certain new French proposals for the duties on iron and on cotton and woollen yarns and goods, Her Majesty's Government considered that, although still unsatisfactory, they afforded a basis for further discussion. They consented, therefore, to the reassembling of the Commission, on condition that the existing Treaty was prolonged for three months, in order to give ample time for examination of the latest proposals. After a long Correspondence, the French Government have now declined to accede to this prolongation, and Her Majesty's Government, consequently, do not feel justified in accepting their invitation to the Commissioners to re-assemble.