§ SIR WALTER FOSTER (Derby, Ilkeston)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the reappearance of plague in Jeddah this year, Her Majesty's Government intend to take any steps to stop the pilgrimage to Mecca from British possessions and from Egypt?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYIt has been found unnecessary to take steps to prohibit the pilgrimage, so far as British-Indian subjects are concerned, as the Government of India reports by telegraph that no more Indian pilgrims will leave India for the Hedjaz this season. As regards Malay pilgrims it was decided, when the first outbreak of plague at Jeddah was notified, that it was already too late to prohibit the pilgrimage, as all intending pilgrims for this year's Haj had already left the Straits Settlements. With reference to Egypt, the question is one which directly concerns the Egyptian Government, but Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General at Cairo reports that intending pilgrims have been warned of the danger from plague, and informed that those who persist in going in face of this warning, will be required to sign a declaration that they will not return to Egypt until the complete disappearance of the plague, and steps have been taken to prevent such return.