§ MR. WILLIAM ALLEN (Newcastle-under-Lyme)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) whether, by the trade regulations of the Niger Company, and by the administrative arrangements, the natives have been prohibited from trading in the way they have long been accustomed to; (2) whether these trade regulations have been sanctioned by the British Government; (3) whether it has been brought to his notice that the natives have been unable to change the method and direction of their trading; (4) and, whether he has any information to show that there has been an increase of smuggling since these regulations were made, that native smugglers have been shot at sight by the Company's officers or servants, and that there has been great discontent among the natives in consequence?
MR. CURZONThe answers to the Questions in paragraphs one, three, and four, will be found in greater fulness than I can give them, in the Report of Sir John Kirk, which has already been circulated. The answer to the second paragraph is in the affirmative.