HC Deb 17 July 1894 vol 27 cc173-4
MR. J. W. LOWTHER (Cumberland, Penrith)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on what day the Papers relating to the modification of the Anglo-Congolese Agreement, extracts from which appeared in The Times and other newspapers on Monday, the 16th instant, were presented to Parliament?

SIR E. GREY

On Saturday the Papers were distributed.

MR. J. W. LOWTHER

That is not my question. On what day were the Papers presented?

SIR E. GREY

The Papers were presented on the 11th of June, but then further Correspondence supervened which would have made the presentation of the Papers at that time not only useless but misleading. It was therefore delayed until the Correspondence was completed.

MR. J. W. LOWTHER

Is it not a fact that on the 11th June none of the Despatches had either been written or received? Is it not the case that, out of the 12 Despatches contained in the Blue Book, only two were written before the 11th of June?

SIR E. GREY

Yes, and that is precisely the reason why the Papers were not distributed sooner.