§ MR. WEBSTER (St. Pancras, E.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, seeing that British enterprise is being hampered and various British companies are being caused serious losses by the boundary between Portuguese Manica and Mashonaland being still unsettled, the Government will consider the desirability of agreeing to a technical arbitration, in order to arrive at an amicable settlement; whether the Portuguese Government have offered to submit the question to friendly technical arbitration; and, if technical arbitration is not adopted, how does the Government propose to deal with it?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY, Northumberland, Berwick)The Portuguese Government have proposed arbitration, but their proposal has not been accepted by Her Majesty's Government, who consider that the line laid down by the British Boundary Commissioner is in accordance with the Treaty of June, 1891.
§ MR. WEBSTERWhat do the Government propose to do in the matter? 488 Do they adhere to the boundary laid down in 1891, or will they take other steps?
§ SIR E. GREYWe adhere to the Treaty, and consider the line to be in accordance with it.