§ MR. BUCHANAN (Edinburgh, W.)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, What steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to remove the impediments that have been 1587 placed by the Portuguese authorities in the way of communication by the Lower Zambesi and Shiré, between the African coast and the trading and mission stations in the neighbourhood of Lake Nyassa?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N. E.)I presume that my hon. Friend alludes to the suspension of the trading facilities formerly afforded by the scale of transit duties through the Portuguese territories. I stated on May 12, in answer to a Question from the hon. and learned Member for Partick Division (Mr. Craig Sellar), that Her Majesty's Government, having no Treaty rights in that region, cannot object to the imposition of the Mozambique Tariff. Her Majesty's Consul there has lately reported that the revision of the tariff of that Province is under consideration.