§ SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucester, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it is the case that no compensation or redress has been obtained by the firm of Jardine, Matheson, and Company, for their forcible ejectment by the Siamese police from their railway works, under the Khorat Railway contract, in August, 1896; and whether the correspondence between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of Siam relating to the matter can be laid before Parliament?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. CURZON,) Lancashire, SouthportThe claims of the contractor, Mr. Murray Campbell, against the Siamese Government, in connection with the construction of the Bangkok-Khorat Railway, were referred to arbitration, but the contractor, and the arbitrator nominated by him, having reason to be dissatisfied with the manner in which the case was conducted by the court, withdrew soon after the proceedings commenced. The two other arbitrators nevertheless delivered an award, which the contractor has declined to accept, and has appealed to Her Majesty's Government. Her Majesty's Government are now in correspondence with the Government of Siam on the subject, and the Papers cannot be published at present.