§ MR. HENRY LEEasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether any progress has been made in securing for this Country, by means of the "most favoured nation clause," the advantages obtained by France and Germany in the Treaty recently made by them with the Government of Spain; whether he is aware that the difference between the terms given to France, and those accorded to nations not having a Treaty of Commerce, is from 35 to 70 per cent.; whether he can state the quantity of Spanish wine imported into Bordeaux during the past year; and, if he is aware that the Spanish wines are reduced in strength, adulterated, and coloured with a certain drug, in order to render them available for the English market?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, Her Majesty's Government are not at present in a position to make public the nature of the exchange of ideas which is now taking place between the two Powers with the view to place their commercial relations on a better footing. I am aware that in the case of some goods the difference of rate of duty referred to does exist. The French official figures for 1881 of the import of Spanish wine into Bordeaux separately are not yet published; but the total importation of such wine was about 5,500,000 hectolitres, or five-sevenths of the imports from all countries. We are aware that both Spanish and Italian wines are largely mixed with French wines and with water, and exported to this and other countries; and, accord- 1231 ing to M. Leroy Beaulieu's statement, they are also drunk in Paris; but it does not appear to be usually necessary to colour the mixture in the case of Spanish wines, which are often of very dark colour.