§ Mr. Grovesasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the agreement which had the effect of nullifying the concession for the extraction of salt from the Dead Sea, had been drafted by 8th May, 1929, and could therefore have been printed in the White Paper Command 3326, and that agreement in terms stated that it was a condition of the grant of the concession that the concessionaires should enter the covenants contained in the agreement, and that those covenants were accordingly a part of the concession the terms of which were at the time promised to this House; and, seeing that the agreement was 181W omitted from the Annual Report to the Permanent Mandates Commission, whether he will take steps to bring the agreement to the notice of the Commission so that its records may contain the complete terms of the concession?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreIt is assumed that the hon. Member's question refers to the agreement dated 22nd May, 1929. A draft of this agreement was in existence on the 8th May, 1929. It was superseded by a later indemnity agreement signed on behalf of Palestine Potash, Limited, dated the 1st January, 1930. I am advised that this indemnity was limited to a term of three years from that date. I do not consider, therefore, that any useful purpose would now be served by communicating its text to the Permanent Mandates Commission.