§ MR. PAULTON (Durham, Bishop Auckland)I beg to ask the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs what, if any, arrangement has been arrived at between Her Majesty's Government and that of Portugal concerning the settle of the Delagoa Bay Railway, especially with reference to the amount of compensation to be paid to the English and American claimants?
§ * SIR J. FERGUSSONThe Portuguese Government have agreed that the Swiss Government should be asked to appoint three jurists to arbitrate as to the amount of compensation to be paid for the rescission of the contract and the taking possession of the railway, and instructions have been sent to Her Majesty's Minister at Berne to make the application as soon as his Portuguese and American colleagues receive similar instructions. I may mention that, with a view to meeting any pressing claims that may be made upon the English company, the Portuguese Government have undertaken at once to place the sum of £28,000 in the hands of Her Majesty's Government.