§ MR. MOLLOYasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, "Whether he has any reason to doubt the accuracy of Mr. Villiers Stuart's statement given in Egypt, No. 7, 1883, pages 2 and 8, that we have "brought back the usurers" to Egypt, and "con- 1572 stitute the shield beneath the protection of which they are now engaged in dispossessing the Natives of their land; "whether he has observed that Mr. Villiers Stuart was informed by the Natives that "Arabi drove out these pauperisers of the people, but we have brought them back by force of arms;" and, if these statements be substantially correct, whether Her Majesty's Government intend to maintain our troops in Egypt for the protection of the usurers mentioned by Mr. Villiers Stuart?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICEIf the hon. Member will refer to Lord Dufferin's despatch, "Egypt" No. 6, page 60, he will find His Excellency's views on the subject of usury in Egypt and the indebtedness of the Fellaheen. The British troops were sent to Egypt, as has been already frequently explained, to put down anarchy, and they are not maintained in the country to protect the system alluded by the hon. Member.
§ MR. VILLIERS STUARTasked to be allowed to say a few words in explanation. Quotations, he might observe, were often misleading, and, in the present case, the quotations of the hon. Member for King's County were not absolutely exact. The tenour of the article to which the hon. Member referred was that responsibility rested on us to do our best to remedy the evil complained of, and that we must not retire prematurely from the task which we had undertaken.
§ SIR WILFRID LAWSONMay I ask if it is true, as reported in the newspapers to-day, that the Khedive has signed the new Egyptian Constitution; and, if so, will it be laid on the Table of the House?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICEI must ask that Notice be given of the Question.