§ MR. CHANNING () Northamptonshire, E.I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether representations have been made to Hoi- Majesty's Government by the American missionaries, by Mr. Sheppard or others in the Congo Free State, as to the murders and mutilations committed by the cannibal tribes under the Congo Free State flag, and with the alleged connivance of the state officials, in order to extort tribute, and attested by American eye witnesses; whether any inquiry has been or will be made; and whether Her Majesty's Government will make representations to the Belgian Government, under the provisions of any of the several treaties regulating the affairs of the Congo to which Great Britain and Belgium are parties, with a view to the better prevention of such atrocities and the punishment of those concerned in them.
MR. BRODBICKNo representations have been made to Her Majesty's Government on this subject. Any representations by American citizens would naturally be made through their own Government. Her Majesty's Government do not propose to institute an 1216 inquiry into or address official representations to the Congo State Government on the subject.