§ SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs—(1) whether French subjects having mercantile transactions in or with British Colonies and Dependencies enjoy all the rights and privileges of British subjects; (2) whether the conversion of the Protectorate of Madagascar into a Colony will bring that island under the protective tariff of France, imposing commercial disadvantages on British merchants; (3) whether any representation has been addressed to the French Government against the character of the proposed arrangement; and (4) whether, when an intimation was given that France would be allowed a free hand in Madagascar, any stipulation or reservation was made with regard to British commercial rights?
MR. CURZONThe answer to the first question is in the affirmative. The suggestion in the second paragraph is the contention that has been put forward by the French Government. Representations have been addressed to them, and the matter is still under discussion between the two Governments. The hon. Member will find a reply to his fourth question in the terms of the Anglo-French Declaration—relating to Zanzibar—of August, 1890.