§ SIR EDWARD SASSOON (Hythe)To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether in view of his statement that the Wai-wu-Pu are endeavouring to overcome the hostility of the local gentry in connection with the Anhui mining contract, he would consider the expediency of affording effectual assistance to the Central Government to enable them to carry out the concessions and obligations into which they have entered in the past: and, if not, by what other method does he expect to secure the legal rights of British subjects in China.
(Answered by Secretary Sir Edward Grey.) The Answer to the first Question is in the negative. I have nothing to add to the statement already made in regard to this concession to the effect that the efforts of His Majesty's Legation have been and are being directed to obtaining, by means of representations to the Central Government, permission for the promoters of the scheme to commence operations.