31. Mr. FREDERICK GREENasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the date in 1918 on which the draft agreement of the Gezira concession was approved; the general reasons for approving this draft agreement while the serious charges and allegations, made in 1917 and 1918 by the responsible official concerned, were pending; if he will lay upon the Table of the House the draft of the Gezira agreement approved in 1918; and if it is proposed to ratify the agreement?
Mr. DUDLEY WARD (Vice-Chamberlain of the Household)A draft agreement was prepared in October, 1917, but was never approved, owing to the inability of the Sudan Government to arrange terms under the conditions then prevailing. The remainder of the question does not, therefore, arise.