§ SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucester, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have failed to obtain any redress from the Siamese Government for the firm of Jardine, Matheson, who in August, 1896, were forcibly ejected by the Siamese police from the Bankok-Khorat railway contract; whether redress has been granted in somewhat similar cases to subjects of other Powers, as for example to United States citizens, for breach of agreement by the Siamese Government; what steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take to obtain redress; and, whether the correspondence on the Khorat railway case can be presented to Parliament.
§ * MR. BRODRICKThe disputes between the Siamese railway department and the English contractor for the Bankok-Khorat railway, for whom Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Company acted as agents, were referred to arbitration in accordance with the provision to that effect in the contract. The contractor, however, withdrew from the arbitration. An agreement is now about to be signed between the Siamese Government and the contractor for the submission of certain 674 questions to the decision of eminent English counsel. It is not proposed to lay before Parliament any correspondence in regard to this matter.