MR. CHARLES M'AETHUR (Liverpool Exchange)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been directed to a Note just issued by the French Minister of the Colonies to the effect that the French Government has never prohibited foreign houses from establishing and freely carrying on business in the French Congo, on condition of respecting the rights of the concessionaire companies; whether he is aware that the French Government has granted territorial concessions to about forty-four companies, which vest the latter with the exclusive right of trading with the natives, and a sole proprietorship of the raw products of the soil; whether, in view of the effect on the interests of British traders who were established in the country before the concessions were granted, His Majesty's Government have made representations on this subject to the French Government; and will he state what is the present position of the question.
§ LORD CRANBORNEA copy of a Note published by the Agence Havas upon the authority of the French Government has been sent home by His Majesty's ambassador at Paris. In the course of this Note it is stated that, subject to the condition that the rights of the concessionaire companies must be respected, the French Government have never prohibited foreign firms established in the Congo from freely carrying on their business. His Majesty's Government 1546 are aware that the French Government have granted territorial concessions to a certain number of companies which vest in the latter the sole proprietorship of the raw products of the soil, and which prohibit the natives from disposing of the raw products of a concession to anyone except the concessionaire. Negotiations on the subject have for some time past been proceeding with the French Government.