§ MR. HEDDERWICK (Wick Burghs)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the fact that the view has been expressed in France that the terms of the Niger Convention with France do not preclude the French from installing Government Commissioners and troops within the Enclaves which it is proposed to lease to the French upon the Lower Niger; and whether either of these steps was within the contemplation of the Foreign Office when the terms of the convention were settled; and, if not, whether care will be taken before the convention is ratified to make the intentions of Her Majesty's Government upon both points absolutely clear?
MR. CURZONThe land which will be leased if desired to the French Government will, by section 3 of the lease, which forms Annex 4 to the convention, be subject to the laws for the time being in force in the British Protectorate of the Niger districts. It is evident that these laws will not admit of the exercise of French jurisdiction, or the stationing of French troops within the Protectorate. Neither of the steps mentioned was in contemplation, and it is unnecessary to take further action in regard to them.