§ MR. SUMMERSI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the proposed Anglo-French Agreement, the Government will take care that in any enlargement of the sphere of influence of France in North Africa, complete freedom of trade shall be secured?
§ * SIR J. FERGUSSONIt is impossible for Her Majesty's Government to pledge itself in advance to make any particular stipulations, but it is manifestly their duty and intention to consult British interests to the utmost possible extent 1367 in any negotiations with foreign Powers. To require the abolition of all Customs Duties in territory on the southern frontier of Algeria would be to require the same abolition in Algeria itself, as an internal Custom House is evidently very difficult.