§ MR. HOGANI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the late Right Hon. W. B. Dalley, P. C, when acting Premier of New South Wales, brought Tinder the notice of Her Majesty's Government the embarrassing condition of New Caledonia in relation to the Australian Colonies; whether Mr. Dalley submitted any proposals or suggestions with a view to the acquisition of New Caledonia by Her Majesty's Government, if so, whether there is any objection to stating the general tenor of such proposals or suggestions; and whether it is on record that the French Government expressed a willingness to cede New Caledonia to the British Crown in exchange for the Falkland Islands?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, BerwickThe Parliamentary Paper, 3839, of 1884, laid by the Colonial Office, shows that the attention of Her Majesty's Government was called to the serious consequences resulting to the Australian Colonies from the transportation of relapsed French criminals to New Caledonia, but the answer to the two last paragraphs of the hon. Member's question is in the negative.