London, July 31, Assurances that the British Government 1s not intending to participate in negotiations aiming at the partial or total alienation of Portue fuse colonies from the mother country were given yesterday by the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Anthony Eden, to the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Senor Armindo Monteiro, ow visiting here, it" is reliably This question has caused consider lo concern in Portuguese circles, there has been persistent talk recently of the possibility of solving the colonial problems of Europe by distributing among the larger powers, now deprived of colonies, the colonial Possessions of Portugal, Portugal, which itself has only 25,000 square miles of territory, possesses about 950,000 square miles fof land. overseas, remnants of her former extensive' empire. The bulk of Portugal's present colonies lies in Africa, where Angola and Mozambique occupy enormous stretches. of land, - with practically unlimited natural wealth,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.