§ SIR T. ESMONDE (Dublin Co., S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if it is a fact that Baron Von Pilsach has created a number of new offices in the Municipal Council of Apia, by which he has secured control of municipal affairs in the town; whether these offices are filled by Samoans, or by Germans or friends of Germany, and by what authority have these appointments been made; and if it is a fact that Baron Von Pilsach's action has given rise to much ill-feeling among the Samoans, and that they are generally dissatisfied with the working of the Berlin Treaty?
SIR J. GORST (for Sir J. FERGUSSON)My right hon. Friend has desired me to say in his absence, owing to the pressure of public business, that no information to this effect has reached Her Majesty's Government. The functions and powers of the President and Members of the Municipal Council are defined in the Final Act of the Samoan Conference laid before Parliament last year.