Speaking at the Cutlers' Feast at Sheffield on Thursday night,
Sir Edward Grey reviewed foreign polities. The fear that events inMorocco might cause Mir opean- complications had been greatly allayed, and had indeed almost disappeared. On the Congo question he said some important words. "We ask for an answer to two questions : Is a great part of the native population of the Congo still obliged to labour compulsorily for the greater portion of the year under the guise of taxa- tion, and is the country gill closed to trade ? Till those two questions are satisfactorily answered, it is impossible for us to recognise the annexation." Sir Edward Grey added: "The present situation cannot be prolonged indefinitely." For the rest, he offered some invaluable advice to those who do not appreciate the fact that the business of the Foreign Office is to guard British interests, and not to try imperti- nently to direct the internal affairs of other countries. We have written something on this subject in our leading pages. The lately developed inquisitive habit is likely to become a real danger if it is persisted in.
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