§ MR. J. E. ELLIS (Nottinghamshire, Rushcliffe)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, what have been the figures of trade (imports and exports separately) for each of the ten years 1889 to 1898 between the United Kingdom and the territory administered by the Niger Company; whether any expense has been borne by the Imperial Exchequer in relation to that Protectorate since the grant of the charter; and in that case what has been the total sum so charged and for what purpose.
§ * MR. BRODRICKI am informed by the Niger Company that no separate account of trade as between the United Kingdom and Nigeria has been kept. A certain portion of the Nigeria trade is with the Continent. No expense whatever has been borne by the Imperial Exchequer in relation to the Protectorate since the grant of the charter.