§ SIR G. BADEN-POWELLI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the promised inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the recent troubles in the Niger Protectorate will be conducted by some authority invested with powers to summon witnesses and take evidence on oath?
§ MR. THOMAS BAYLEY (Derbyshire, Chesterfield)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if the inquiry promised by the Government into the Native rising at Brass will be open to the public, and evidence taken on oath, with power to enforce attendance of witnesses?
§ SIR EDWARD GREYI cannot yet say what precise form the inquiry will take.
§ MR. W. S. CAINE (Bradford, E.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will ascertain the quantity of spirits the Royal Niger Company sold for consumption by the natives in the years 1893 and 1894, and the amount of revenue received by the Company from such sales?
§ SIR E. GREYThe only revenue for administrative purposes is derived, not from the sale of spirits, but from the duty paid upon spirits when imported either by the company or other traders. In spite of the great increase of general trade since the Charter, the average annual importation of spirits has been only one-fourth of that prior to the 1250 Charter, and of the total trade of the company's territories not more than 12 per cent. is done in spirits.