§ EARL DE LA WARRasked Her Majesty's Government, Whether there is any objection to laying upon the Table of the House a Return of the number of Foreigners and Europeans in the employment of the Egyptian Government, and of the amount of the salaries which they receive; also any correspondence or information on the subject of exemption from 986 certain taxes enjoyed by foreign residents in Egypt? The noble Earl said, he did not wish upon this question to say anything that might lead to a discussion at this time; but since the financial affairs of Egypt were, to a great extent, under the control and under the regulation of the Anglo-French Agents, he thought it was not unreasonable to ask that the Papers relating to the facts to which he had referred should be laid before Parliament; and, therefore, he hoped that the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs would not see any objection to granting the Returns which he now asked for.
§ EARL GRANVILLE, in reply, said, that with regard to the first portion of the noble Earl's Question, he had to state that a short time ago instructions were sent to Sir Edward Malet to obtain Returns with reference to the number of Europeans employed in Egypt, with a statement of their salaries. The Government had not yet received any answer, and he was not sure whether he would be able to give full and accurate Returns. If the information should be received, he did not anticipate that there would be any objection to laying it before Parliament. With regard to the second portion of the noble Earl's Question, he might say that about a year ago—namely, in March, 1881—Her Majesty's Government had some correspondence with the Egyptain Government as to the right of the latter to impose taxes upon foreigners resident in Egypt. That Correspondence was not yet complete; but when it was there would, he believed, be no objection on the part of the Foreign Office to laying it upon the Table.