§ SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL (Kirkcaldy, &c.)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Her Majesty's Government will submit to Parliament any Papers showing the circumstances under which the Government of the day were induced to grant a Territorial Charter to the Royal Niger Company, the extent of the territories and protectorates now claimed and possessed by that Company, the progress they have made in establishing government and jurisdiction, the fiscal system and commercial tariffs which they have established, their relations with neighbouring Native Powers, and the degree to which they have reconciled the sovereignty of a Trading Company with free trade or the contrary?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)The request of the hon. Member is reasonable. I will, as soon as possible, lay upon the Table Papers on the subject. I cannot pledge myself to all the details of the Question; but the House shall be fully informed.