§ MR. JAMES MACLEAN (Oldham)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if there is any truth in the statement made by the Brussels correspondent of the Times on the 17th instant, that
The Convention between Russia and Persia relative to the railways which are to connect the Caspian Sea with the Indian Ocean, accords to Russia the right of preference for this construction, and that the construction is to be entrusted exclusively to Russians approved by the Czar's Government?
§ * THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir J. FERGUSSON,) Manchester, N.E.The statement is not, as far as I know, correct. The exclusive right of constructing railways in Persia has not been conceded to Russia, although a promise of priority in the construction of one line of railway, the precise direction of which is not stipulated, is believed to have been promised to a Russian company in the event of one being formed in the next five years.