§ MR. R. W. DUFF (Banffshire)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can state to the House what steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to induce the Brazilian Government to improve the sanitary condition of the port of Santos, and for expediting the discharging of vessels at that port; and, if any, and what, steps have been taken to acquaint the mercantile and shipping community of this country of the alarming rate of mortality among British seamen which has already occurred in consequence of the condition of the port of Santos?
MR. J. W. LOWTHERInstructions were sent to Her Majesty's Minister at Rio, in October and in February, to bring this matter to the attention of the Brazilian Government, which was accordingly done. Mr. Wyndham was further instructed on the 9th instant to press the matter upon their attention. The insanitary condition of the port of Santos has been made known to the shipping community by the Board of Trade, by notices in the Board of Trade Journal, by means of a notice posted in all the shipping offices, and in other ways.