DR. RUTHERFORD (Middlesex, Brentford)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether there exists in Egypt and the Soudan, or in either and which of those countries, a royalty on the manufacture, importation, exportation, or sale of refined sugar; if so, what is the amount of such royalty; and whether it is intended to abolish wholly, or to reduce to any and what extent, such royalty and to replace it by one upon unrefined sugar.
§ SIR EDWARD GREYI am not aware of the existence of any such royalty. I will inquire. But, with regard to the latter part of the Question, I must point out that it is for obvious reasons the rule in this country not to announce an intention to alter duties before a decision has been arrived at, and the same reasons would, I assume, be equally applicable to Egypt.