*LORD AVEBURYMy Lords, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that the British firms trading in the Free Trade Zone of the Conventional Basin of the Congo have been compelled to close their factories on account of a decision of the Court of Libreville, that their trading forest products is illegal, and that in the 1144 adjacent French territory (French Congo), outside the Free Trade Zone, they have been fined heavily for not removing their goods and buildings after the stoppage of their trade; and whether he can give any information as to the position of the negotiations of His Majesty's Government with the French Government for the redress of these wrongs. I am putting this Question at the request of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. We do not intend any reflection on the central French Government, because we are all aware of the difficulty of controlling agents at a distance, but in this case the action of the local authorities does appear to have been very high-handed. I have also given private notice to the noble Marquess that I would ask whether he an lay any Papers or correspondence on the Table.
*THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, the subject to which the Question refers is one which has for some time past constantly engaged the attention of His Majesty's Government. The facts, speaking generally, are as tated by the noble Lord in his Question, and I am bound to say that, apart from he legal aspects of the case, it does seem to us to be one of very considerable hardship. The firms to whom the noble Lord's Question refers are the firms which really may be said to have created the existing trade in this part of West Africa, and they are now threatened with a complete loss of that trade in consequence of action on the part of the local authorities which we, as at present advised, certainly regard as involving very great hardship and injustice. At the suggestion of the French Government, representaives of these firms came to Paris, and were received in a very considerate manner by the authorities of the French Colonial Office. Various proposals were made to them, which, however, I am sorry to say, they did not find it possible to accept. At one moment it was suggested to them that their business might be taken over by the French Concessionaire Companies, but that arrangement also fell through. In July of last year His Majesty's Government proposed to the French Government that the case should be referred 1145 to arbitration; we have not yet received a reply to that proposal. In the meanwhile, I am sorry to say it is the case that actions have been brought against the firms in the local courts, and they have been fined for the infringement of the rights of the French Concessionaire Companies. I have said enough to show that we are watching the case, which we regard as one of some importance, and we shall spare no pains in order to obtain redress for the persons in whom the noble Lord is interested.
*LORD AVEBURYI have no interest in these firms except the general interests of British commerce. I have nothing to do with these particular firms. I should like to ask whether correspondence relating to these matters can be laid on the Table.