§ BARON HENRY DE WORMSasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the following telegram from the Vienna correspondent of The Daily Telegraph—
It is reported that the English Government intends to reply to the annexation of Merv by taking important measures for the protection of Herat. The English garrison at Quettah, it is said, will he reinforced, the Indian Railroad over Sibi will be prolonged to Quettah, and eventually to Candahar, and Russia will be given to understand that England considers Herat to be within the sphere of her protection, while the authorities at Herat are to be warned that England will not tolerate Foreign interference of any kind "—correctly indicates the steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take in view of the annexation of Merv by Russia?
§ MR. J. K. CROSSThe hon. Member for Greenwich asks whether a certain course of action, attributed to Her Majesty's Government by the Vienna Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, correctly indicates the steps which Her Majesty's Government intend to take in view of the annexation of Merv by Russia? On the 22nd of February, the President of the Local Government Board stated, on behalf of the Government, and in reply to the hon. Member for Mid Lincoln (Mr. E. Stanhope), that the matter was now the subject of diplomatic communications, and that it was not possible for the Government to speak in detail upon it at the present time. He also drew attention to the engagements entered into with the Ameer in 1880, and reiterated in 1883, by which, on certain conditions, we undertake to aid the Ameer in repelling unprovoked aggression on his Dominions, of which Herat forms a part. I hope the hon. Gentleman will agree with me in thinking that the means by which these engagements are to be fulfilled must rest with Her Majesty's Government.