§ * SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign 1325 Affairs whether he can state under what circumstances the Allied Commanders at Tientsin came to deal with conditions on the handing back of territory at Tientsin which affected matters in China as far removed from the sphere of their activity as a district West of Peking; and whether the Allied Ministers at Peking had given their consent to proposals being formulated by the Allied Commanders in reference to such large political questions.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Lord CRANBORNE,) RochesterThe commanding officers were asked by the diplomatic body what stipulations, from a military point of view, it would, in their opinion, be desirable to make with the Chinese Government, when acceding to the latter's request for the dissolution of the Provisional Government of Tientsin. They were not asked to suggest political condition?. His Majesty's Minister reports that it is not likely that the diplomatic body will be able to give an opinion on the proposals of the commanding officers for a week or ten days.