§ LORD CHARLES BERESFORD (York)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it is true that a national bank has been formed in Egypt; whether the capital is to be £800,000 or £1,000,000, and whether it 1223 is wholly or partly guaranteed by either the Egyptian or British Government; or whether the loan advanced by this country is to provide the capital; and whether, in view of the establishment of this bank, the advance of £838,000 as a loan from this country, the construction of the barrage, and other signs of a prolonged occupation, the Government are prepared openly to declare that we intend to stop there, in view of the great sacrifices in British men and money on behalf of Egypt?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.The answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The capital is to be £1,000,000. It is not wholly or partly guaranteed either by the British or the Egyptian Government, nor is the capital to be provided by the loan advanced by this country, but it is subscribed by private individuals. Neither the establishment of the bank, nor the advance made for the purposes of the Soudan expedition, nor the construction of the barrage, which I may remind my noble and gallant Friend is to be done at the cost of the Egyptian Government, seem to call for any declarations of policy beyond those which have been already made.