§ MR. PIERPOINT (Warrington)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the event of a Commission of Experts being invited by the Egyptian Government to advise them as to the best means of increasing the summer supply of Nile water, Her Majesty's Government would instruct Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General to secure the presence of an expert in sanitation as a member of the Commission, with a view to guard the commercial interests of this country in the Suez Canal against the injury which would result if the drinking water supplied to Port Said and Suez from the Nile were further polluted by the adoption of a reservoir scheme in which sanitation was subordinate to irrigation?
§ * THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, BerwickThe composition of such a Com- 531 mission is certain to receive the most careful consideration of the Egyptian Government, and there is no reason to suppose that they would favour the adoption of a scheme which would have the injurious effect suggested by the hon. Member.
MR. PLERPOINTI asked whether Lord Cromer would be instructed to see that a sanitary officer was put on the Commission?
§ * SIR E. GREYThe Government have no intention of sending special instructions with a view to influencing the composition of the Commission.