§ MR. T. BAYLEY (Derbyshire, Chesterfield)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, before the attack on Akassa by the Brassmen, any independent official of the Crown inquired into the grievances of the Brassmen with a view of a peaceful settlement; and, if the cause of the rising at Akassa is the taking away by force by the Niger Company from the Brassmen the ancient rights of free trading with the English and natives?
§ *SIR E GREYThe attack was entirely unexpected, and no official inquiry had previously been made. As I stated the other day, it is known that the Brass-men, who previously had been in the position of middlemen, and had a monopoly of the trade from the interior, have lost that monopoly by the opening up of the country in the interior by the Niger Company. This is believed to have been the cause of the outbreak.