HC Deb 07 May 1885 vol 297 cc1855-6
MR. MONTAGU SCOTT (for Mr. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT)

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House the complete text of the Despatch from M. de Giers, which contains the following words:— It is impossible for us not to trace back the cause of the present situation to the military aspect with which the English Government thought it their duty to invest their Boundary Commission," and "we cannot pass by the fact that the loudly proclaimed interview between the Amir and the Viceroy, and its bellicose surroundings, must certainly have emboldened the Afghans to the point of committing such acts of provocation as could not be tolerated by the Russian military authorities; whether there is the slightest foundation for the charges thus made by M. de Giers; whether the Russian Government have asked for the withdrawal of Sir Peter Lumsden and other British officers; and, whether the return of Sir Peter Lumsden to London is in consequence of such representations?

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE

The hon. Member will receive the information which he desires from the Correspondence which will shortly be laid before the House.