§ MR. TREVELYAN (Yorkshire, W.R., Elland)To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether His Majesty's Government has boon informed that the trial of the Rev. Edgar Stannard, in the Congo State, has been postponed until June 15th; that the trial of Lieutenant Massard, of the Force Publique of that State, is not yet concluded, although that Congo official was arrested, by instructions of the Congo Commission of Inquiry, as far back as November, 1904; and what guarantees are possessed by His Majesty's Government that the proceedings against the Rev. Edgar Stannard will not be similarly delayed.
(Answered by Secretary Sir Edward Grey.) Consul Nightingale has reported the postponement of the trial. I understand that Lieutenant Massard appealed against the sentence of the Court of First Instance. If the Delegation of that Court at Coquilhatville pronounces a judgment adverse to Mr. Stannard, and if Mr. Stannard appeals against that judgment, His Majesty's Government will take all possible steps to insure that the proceedings before the Court of Appeal shall not be unduly delayed.