§ SIR WILFRID LAWSONasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether his attention has been called to a statement in The Times of February 29th, regarding the rule of Mr. Frank Lupton in the Southern Soudan, from which it appears that letters were sent to the Mahdi from Slattern Bey and other officers attached to Mr. Lupton's Government, making treacherous offers of joining the Mahdi; whether it is true that on the strength of the assurances contained in these letters 2,000 of the Mahdi's troops were induced to approach the walls of Dara, whereupon, when within a hundred yards of the walls, "cannon loaded to the muzzles with bullets" opened fire upon them, and five hundred were shot down; and, whether, if this statement be true, Her Majesty's Government has either the power or the intention of dealing in any way with Mr. Lupton with reference to this proceeding?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICENo such information has been received at the Foreign Office, and Her Majesty's Government has no control over Mr. Lupton, who is Governor of the Bahr-el-Gazal Province, in the interior of the Soudan.