§ MR. DAVITT (Mayo, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has received any information relating to negotiations between a firm of Liverpool shipowners and the Government of Nicaragua for the purchase by the firm in question of railways in that country and of steamers on Lake Managua with the object of competing with the proposed American canal across the isthmus; whether this firm has communicated its intention or plans to Her Majesty's Government; and whether any protest against this rival British project has been made by the United States Government?
MR. CURZONWe have heard nothing of the negotiations alluded to in the first paragraph, other than a report that some such negotiations had been commenced. The answer to the second and third Questions is in the negative.