§ MR. HOULDSWORTHasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether, in the event of the Treaty with Portugal being ratified, the various Treaties and Engagements between Her Majesty the Queen of England and the chiefs and headmen of the Congo River and adjoining territory, recorded in the Paper, "Africa (No. 3, 1883)," will be thereby cancelled; if so, whether the said chiefs have given their consent; if not, how Her Majesty's Government propose to fulfil their obligations under these Treaties, or to enforce the stipulations contained therein in respect to the suppression of the slave trade and to freedom of commerce? He would further ask whether any representations have reached the Foreign Office from the Congo Natives by the steamer Senegal, which arrived this week?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICEI have already answed this Question, and have stated that the Treaties and Engagements will be superseded by the Treaty with Portugal. The Treaty not only takes full security for the suppression of the Slave Trade, but contains new and valuable stipulations with that object. The Foreign Office has not received any information by the Senegal.
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERMy noble Friend has not answered the Question whether the Chiefs have given their consent to the new Treaty?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICEI stated the other day that they were not consulted.