§ MR. GOURLEY (Sunderland)asked, Whether it is correct that four captured British sealing schooners have been brought to Port Townsend by a United States tug, and that they are to be put up for sale on August 22; and, whether any arrangement is likely to be arrived at with the United States Government and that of the Dominion of Canada for the purpose of preventing illegal fishing, and the indiscriminate destruction of seal fish by Canadians in Alaskan waters?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)(who replied) said: We have heard that four British schooners, seized last year in Behring's Sea, are being taken from Sitka to Port Townsend for sale by the United States Marshal. Her Majesty's Minister at Washington has been instructed to request the United States Government to postpone the sale, pending a settlement of the question as to the legality of the seizures. Negotiations are in progress for the protection of the seal fisheries.