§ MR. YERBURGH (Chester)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Customs lighthouse keepers at Leao-tio-shan have been dismissed by the Russian authorities, and whether the lighting of the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili is now in Russian hands; whether the lighthouse 380 service of China is a branch of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, and its expenses defrayed out of the revenues of that service; and whether Sir Robert Hart, as head of that service, has been consulted as to their action, or advised of it by the Russian authorities?
MR. CURZONWe have heard from Her Majesty's Minister at Pekin that the lighthouse keepers at Leao-tio-shan were paid off a fortnight ago and replaced by Russians. The lighthouse in question is on the territory leased to Russia. The Chinese lighthouse service is a branch of the Customs Service, but I believe that Sir Robert Hart was not consulted in the matter.