§ MR. D. JENKINSasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Her Majesty's Government has any information showing that the Russian ports in the Black Sea are not effectively blockaded; whether it is true that Russian vessels are proceeding without hindrance between the ports of Odessa and Nicolaieff; whether, in the event of British vessels entering and leaving these ports without hindrance from Turkish cruisers, Her Majesty's Government will allow such vessels to be interfered with by the Ottoman Porte on their return through the Bosphorus; and, whether the Turkish Government should be notified that Her Majesty's Government will not recognise any blockade which is not effective as prescribed by the Declaration of Paris?
§ MR. BOURKE,in reply, said, no official information had been received at the Foreign Office as to whether the blockade of certain ports in the Black Sea was inefficient. They had, however, received information from private sources that certain vessels which before the blockade were in the habit of running between Nicolaieff and Odessa had run again between those two ports. That was all the information he could give him on that point. With regard to the third part of the Question, he had to state that no case of that kind had occurred, where there had been any interference on the part of the authorities of the Porte. If any case of the kind did occur, of course, it would depend entirely on the facts of that particular case whether it was illegal or not. If a vessel were captured, the case would be taken before a Prize Court for that Court to decide. The House would, therefore, see it would be inexpedient for him to answer a question of a hypothetical cha- 1584 racter, or to give an opinion on the subject before the facts of any particular case were known. As regarded the last part, it was well known that the Turkish Government were parties to the Declaration of Paris, and therefore it was not necessary, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government to notify that fact to them.