§ 8. Mr. HANNONasked the Undersecretary of State for India the terms of the concession granted by the Iraq Government to Eastern Irrigations, Limited, for the development of cotton growing in Iraq; the acreage which the company intends to develop north of 4 Bagdad; and the terms upon which depends the right to cultivate the territory in the immediate vicinity of the Diala river?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Mr. Amery)I have been asked to take this question. A con-cession for the development of certain areas in Iraq was granted in July last year by the Iraq Government to a local group. This concession was acquired from the concessionaires by Eastern Irrigations, Limited, who. with the consent of the Iraq Government, subsequently assigned certain of their rights thereunder to the Diala Cotton Plantations Limited. Details of the concession have recently been published in the prospectus of the latter company, from which I gather that the company proposes to cultivate 108,000 acres.