§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will lay upon the Table of the House the recent treaty concluded by this country with Germany in relation to the Egyptian clauses of the Anglo-French Agreement, and will he state whether there are any secret clauses attached to such Anglo-German treaty.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Earl PERCY,) Kensington, S.No treaty has been concluded with Germany on the subject, but Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy have not only, like Russia, assented to the Khedivial Decree, but have also undertaken not to obstruct the action of Great Britain in Egypt by asking that a limit of time be fixed for the British occupation or in any other manner; and agreed that the execution of the last sentence of Paragraph 1, as well as of Paragraph 2, of Article VIII. of the Treaty of the 29th October, 1888, shall remain in abeyance. On the other hand, His Majesty's Government have given an assurance to these Powers that they guarantee to their commerce in Egypt most-favoured-nation treatment for thirty years. That they will respect the rights which, in virtue of treaties, conventions, and usage, they enjoy in Egypt. That their schools in Egypt shall continue to enjoy the same liberty as in the past, and that officials of those nationalities now in the Egyptian service shall not be placed under conditions less advantageous than those applying to the British officials in the same service. The Answer to the last paragraph is in the negative.
MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)Has Turkey, as one of the signatories to the Convention of 1888, been consulted in this matter?
§ EARL PERCYwas understood to reply in the negative.