HC Deb 14 May 1888 vol 326 cc174-5
MR. ANDERSON (Elgin and Nairn)

asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Will the Government lay upon the Table of the House the written communication, stated by the Earl of Carnarvon in the House of Lords to have been sent by him to the Prime Minister in 1886, on the subject of the interview between the Earl of Carnarvon and the hon. Member for the City of Cork (Mr. Parnell), relating to the future Government of Ireland, together with a copy of the reply of the Marquess of Salisbury, and any further Correspondence on the subject?

THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)

The hon. and learned Member will see that the Correspondence to which he refers, if it exists, was obviously of a private and confidential character as between Colleagues in the Government, and it would be entirely contrary to all precedent to produce it.