HC Deb 06 June 1890 vol 345 c151
SIR G. CAMPBELL

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if it is true that the Anti-Slavery Conference at Brussels have also been discussing the distinct question of levying Customs Duties in in the Congo Free Trade area; whether the British delegates on the subject of slavery had instructions to discuss the other question also; and whether, as stated in the public prints, they have given their adhesion to a proposal for levying duties?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir J. FERGUSSON, Manchester, N.E.)

It is true that the Anti-Slavery Conference at Brussels have been discussing the question of levying Customs Duties in the Congo Free Trade area; but it is obviously impossible to give information on this subject while the Conference is still carrying on its deliberations.