§ SIR GILBERT PARKER (Gravesend)To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been directed to the official Budget for the Congo issued by the Belgian Government, in which the estimated yield from the taxes on rubber and other natural products levied upon the natives is shown to be equal in amount to the revenue derived from the same source under the former administration, which the Secretary of State has described as slavery; and whether he can say if it is to be inferred from these Estimates that there is no intention of diminishing the crushing burden imposed upon the native population.
(Answered by Secretary Sir Edward Grey.) My attention has been directed to this point, but it would be premature to draw any inference from it as to the policy which the Belgian Government intend to pursue in the matter of reforms before the discussion on the Congo Budget in the Belgian Parliament, which will give the Belgian Government the natural opportunity for explaining their intentions.