HC Deb 07 February 1881 vol 258 c248
MR. ERRINGTON

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he can give the House any information as to a project said to have received the support of several Foreign Governments for developing the rich districts of Palestine by establishing there a Jewish Colony east of the Jordan; and, whether this project has received the sanction of the Sultan?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE

Mr. Lawrence Oliphant communicated his scheme of colonization in 1879 to the Marquess of Salisbury, who gave him a letter of introduction to Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, and to the British Consular officers in Syria, requesting them to endeavour to obtain for Mr. Oliphant every facility for pursuing the inquiries on which he was engaged, but stating that his objects were of a private character, and had not been officially adopted by Her Majesty's Government. We believe that the project in question has not been sanctioned by the Turkish Government.