§ SIR C. DILKE (Gloucester, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government will forthwith lay before Parliament those portions of the Agreement between France and the Congo State, signed on Tuesday, which affect the Anglo-Congo-lese Convention; whether, in the Agreement with France, the Sovereign of the Congo State binds himself not to exercise any political control whatsoever westward of the 30th degree of longitude, or northward of the latitude 5 degrees 30 minutes, and to limit his action south and east of such lines; and what, in the view of Her Majesty's Government, will be the future situation on the territory of the Nile, near Lado, lying immediately to the north of latitude 5 degrees 30 minutes?
§ SIR A. ROLLITWill the hon. Baronet say whether the Agreement between France and the Congo Free State is or is not made subject to the approval of Great Britain?
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT (Sheffield, Ecclesall)May I ask whether, under the Convention just concluded between France and the Congo Free State, the King of the Belgians has renounced most of the territory leased to the Congo Free State under the Anglo-Congo Treaty of 12th of May; whether under the Franco-Congo Convention, the French boundary is moved eastward as 1252 far as the 30th meridian, so as to come within 50 miles of the Nile, and to include Darfur and a large portion of the Equatorial Provinces; whether Her Majesty's Government were consulted before this Treaty was concluded; and whether Her Majesty's Government intend to recognise its validity?
MR. J. W. LOWTHER (Cumberland, Penrith)And will the hon. Baronet state what is the effect of the new Franco-Congolese Agreement upon the Anglo-Belgian Agreement of the 12th of May, 1894; and whether he will lay a copy of the former document upon the Table of House?
§ * SIR E. GREYWe have not yet received the text as signed. When it is received it will be laid before Parliament. By this Agreement the Congo State renounces all influence and occupation west and north of a line thus determined: Longitude 30° E. starting from its intersection with the watershed of the Congo and Nile basins up to the point where it meets the parallel 5° 30 N., and then along that parallel to the Nile. No limitation south and east of this line is made by the Agreement. Her Majesty's Government were informed of the arrangement between France and the King of the Belgians, and did not oppose His Majesty's desire to sign it; but they are in no sense parties to it, and the territory north of Lado and in the western watershed of the Nile basin remains in the British sphere of influence, subject to the rights of Turkey and Egypt, as it was before the Agreement with the King of the Belgians was signed. Lord Dufferin has returned to Paris to continue with M. Hanotaux the discussion which we hope will lead to a settlement of pending difficulties between the two countries.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTThe hon. Baronet has not answered the second paragraph. Can he say whether the French Government have given an undertaking not to occupy Darfur or any portion of the Equatorial Province?
§ SIR A. ROLLITAnd the hon. Baronet has not answered my question, in which, however, I should like to substitute the word "concurrence" for "approval."
§ * SIR E. GREYI said we were informed of the arrangement between France and the King of the Belgians. France has not given any undertaking under this Agreement, which does not move the French boundary into the Nile basin.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTWhat is the degree of latitude at which the Franco-Congo frontier intersects the 30th degree of longitude? Much depends on that.
§ SIR E. GREYIt is defined in the first Article of the Treaty.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTMy point is this: How far will the French be from the Nile waterway? Will they come within 40 miles of the Nile itself? Has France given any undertaking not to occupy any of the region which we know as the Equatorial Province?
§ * SIR E. GREYI cannot make any statement as to the French undertakings while the negotiations are proceeding. The Agreement, I repeat, does not alter the French boundary at all in a way to affect the Nile basin.