§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTON (Tower Hamlets, Poplar)I beg to ask the 965 Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been called to a telegram, through Reuter's Agency, dated Alexandria, 25th February, which states that "Captain Wissmann has arrived here on his way to Zanzibar. He proceeds to-night to Cairo, where he will probably recruit a force of some hundred blacks;" and whether the consent of the Egyptian Government has been obtained for the enlistment of its subjects?
§ SIR J. FERGUSSONHer Majesty's Government are aware of the project of Captain Wissmann, of the German Army. Sir Evelyn Baring has reported his arrival at Cairo, and has stated that his proceedings have not received any official sanction; but that the Egyptian Government do not propose to put any obstacles in the way of his endeavouring to obtain by purely voluntary enlistment a few blacks for service in a police force. He adds that there are a good many blacks at Cairo, emigrants from the Soudan, and others, who are out of work, and who will be benefited if employment can be obtained for them.