§ MR. W. ABRAHAM (Limerick, W.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the award of the jurists assembled at Berne, Switzerland, in August, 1891, to decide the amount the Portuguese Government are to pay to the Delagoa Bay Railway Company for the forcible seizure of the above line has yet been promulgated; and, if not, when the award may be expected, seeing that nine months have already elapsed?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. J. W. LOWTHER,) Cumberland, PenrithI think the hon. Member is under a misapprehension. The jurists have not yet assembled to hear the parties, nor has the case yet been before them on its merits. The cases of the Delagoa Bay Railway Company and of the American claimants were forwarded for presentation to the Arbitration Tribunal on the 2nd April last. The Arbitration Tribunal has ordered that the case of the Portuguese Government shall be presented to them not later than the 22nd July. A further period of three months is assigned for the reply and for the rejoinder. When the documentary evidence shall have been presented, the parties will be at liberty to plead by counsel. It is, therefore, impossible to say when the award may be expected.