§ MR. BUCHANAN (Aberdeenshire, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether a sum of £12,500 a year is paid by India to this country for the British Consular Service in China; and, on what grounds, in the case of the Vice-Consulate at Momien, in China, India has been called on to pay half the expenses of that establishment.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThe present arrangement under which India pays £12,500 towards the cost of the British Diplomatic and Consular service in China, and which is subject to reconsideration after the 31st March next, was made in 1890. But under Article XIII of the Burma-China Convention of 1894, it became necessary to provide for a new consular officer at Manwyne; and since the appointment was in a great measure made in the interests of India, and especially of Indian trade with Bhamo, the Government of India in 1896 accepted the principle of joint liability, with the express understanding that, if Momien was preferred to Manwyne for the consul's residence, the liability would continue.