HC Deb 23 May 1881 vol 261 cc1073-5
BARON HENRY DE WORMS

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House, a Copy of the Protest addressed by Her Majesty's Government to the Government of Russia, relative to the expulsion of Mr. Lewisohn, a British subject; the text of the Russian Law bearing on the question; and of the notice stated to have appeared in the "Gazette" warning Jewish subjects of the Queen generally of the existence of prohibitory Laws in Russia as to their residence in that Country? He also wished to ask the hon. Baronet, whether he has seen a description by an eyewitness of recent outrages in Kieff, and a translation of a Russian account of these outrages, from which it appeared that thousands of men, women, and children had been left without the means of subsistence; that many of them were killed; and that the perpetrators of these outrages were under the special protection of the civil and military authorities? If so, he wished to know whether it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to abstain from making any representations to Russia on the subject until they received an invitation from some other Power to do so?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE

Sir, I informed the House a few days since that, with the exception of at Odessa, Her Majesty is not represented at any of the towns where these riots have occurred. We have telegraphed to Odessa for full information, and we have received a telegram from the Consul General there. We hear that the riots at Odessa have come nearly to an end. They had ended entirely on Friday, but on Saturday there was some slight disturbance. No persons were killed at Odessa, or apparently dangerously wounded; but a large number of windows were broken and property taken away. There appears to have been 1,000 arrests made at Odessa by the Russian Government, and between 600 and 700 of the rioters are now in prison. It is proposed to lay upon the Table of the House the laws and regulations affecting the residence of Jews in Russia, and as soon as Her Majesty's Government are in possession of an authenticated copy of these documents they will consider whether any steps can be taken to obtain a modification of the laws in question. Lord Dufferin had more than one personal interview with the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, and addressed formal notes to him on the subject on the 27th of January and 19th of February last. The Gazette notice referred to appeared in The London Gazette of August 7, 1860.

SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF

asked whether Her Majesty's Government would follow the example of their Predecessors in the case of the Bulgarian outrages, and depute a Special Commissioner to make inquiries in Russia?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE

The hon. Member must give Notice of that Question.