§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the Government has been asked to give their countenance, either alone or in conjunction with France, to a Mission to Chili on behalf of the Peruvian Bondholders' Committee; and, if so, what answer has been given?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N. E.)Her Majesty's Government have not been asked to give their countenance to such a Mission; nor are they aware that any such is contemplated; but had the British Peruvian bondholders desired for themselves to 743 approach the Chilian Government, Her Majesty's Government would have afforded them such support as is usually given by Her Majesty's Representatives to British subjects having well-founded claims against a Foreign Government.
§ MR. LABOUCHEREasked, if the right hon. Gentleman was aware of the Judgment of Sir George Jessel and Lords Justices James and Hellish in 1877, in which they stated that the Courts of this country had no jurisdiction in the matter?
§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSONsaid, the hon. Member knew that the matter was a most complicated one, and one that had many phases. He had been asked as to a particular point, and to that he had no difficulty in giving a direct and positive answer. He, however, could not enter into a recondite history of the Peruvian bondholders.