§ MR. G. DRAGE (Derby)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether, under the Russian Law which comes into force in 1900, Russian shipowners will be deprived of the right to employ British seamen: and, whether the restriction applies to the ocean trade as well as to the coasting trade?
MR. CURZONIt is understood from a Report received from Her Majesty's Consul General at St. Petersburg on 10th August, 1897, and published as No. 1998 of the Annual Series, that by the law which comes into force in January, 1900—
The privilege enjoyed by Russian shipowners of employing an unlimited number of foreign seamen on board their vessels will be withdrawn, and Russian seamen must, when the ukase conies into operation, alone man high-sea coasters.