§ MR. BRYCE (Aberdeen, S.)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If he can inform the House what are the arrangements now in force as to the enjoyment by British trade of all such benefits and privileges as are enjoyed in the ports of Spain and the Spanish Colonies by the trade of the United States; and, whether it is proposed to present any Papers upon the subject?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)Article 31 of the Franco-Spanish Treaty of February 6, 1882, and Article 22 of the Germano-Spanish Treaty of July 12, 1883, secure to France and Germany most favoured nation treatment in the Spanish Colonies, while the previous Articles of those Treaties secure most favoured nation treatment in Spain. These provisions are extended to us by the Convention with Spain of April 26, 1886. Beyond this we have the repeated assurances of the Spanish Minister of State that we should receive in the Colonies the treatment granted to the United States. There has never been any question of a differentially favourable treatment of the United States in the Peninsula. The Correspondence on the subject is very engthy, and much of it inconclusive. It is not proposed to present it to Parliament.