§ SIR W. EVANS GORDONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether a Bill granting concessions to a German syndicate for the construction of hotels and the establishment of gambling rooms in the Island of Madeira has been introduced in the Portuguese Cortes; whether the said concessions contain clauses under which the concessionaires are exempted from the payment of import duty upon all materials they may bring into the island; and whether he can state to the House the result of any action which His Majesty's Government have taken in the matter.
§ SIR EDWARD GREYI am informed that the Bill in question has been dropped, and it is therefore unnecessary to make any statement upon it.