§ SIR R. TEMPLEI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether there is truth in the reports that, the King of Siam is being required to undertake that concessions for material improvement in the Eastern Siamese Provinces shall be reserved for the French exclusively; and whether the French Government continues to give 1572 assurances of its desire to respect the independence of Siam?
§ *SIR E. GREYThe Reports we have received of the French proposals do not include a demand for such an undertaking on the part of the Siamese Government. There has been no withdrawal of the assurances given by France.