§ MR. CREMER (Shoreditch, Haggerston)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can state whether the Khedive of Eygpt still pays annual tribute to the Sultan of Turkey by way of acknowledging the Sultan's sovereignty over Eygpt; and, If so, what is the amount of tribute so paid; whether any attempt has been made or is being made to release Egypt from her position as a suzerain State, and to constitute her a sovereign power.
§ LORD CRANBORNEThe tribute annually payable by the Khedive of Egypt to the Sultan is almost entirely pledged as security for the interest on various Ottoman loans. In the last Egyptian budget the total sum payable is given as 665,041 pounds, Egyptian, of which £64,826 is paid as interest on loans. The answer to the last paragraph is in the negative.