MR. J. W. LOWTHERI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have come to any decision upon the proposals submitted to them on the 23rd of June, 1893, by the Imperial British East Africa Company; whether any reply, beyond a merely formal acknowledgment, has been sent to the Company in answer to their letter of that date; and whether the decision, if any, at which Her Majesty's Government have arrived in this matter can now be communicated to the House?
§ SIR E. GREYThe decision upon this proposal had to be deferred till the policy with reference to Uganda had been determined; and, in the meanwhile, nothing more than a formal acknowledgment could be given. The point was, 757 however, one of the first to come under consideration as soon as the Protectorate over Uganda had been announced, but the Company have just withdrawn their offer, and I cannot at present make any statement respecting their position.