§ MR. DRAGEI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether the duty levied by the Russian Government on British built ships amounts to 25 or 30 per cent.; whether Baron Stromberg has made arrangements with the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company for the establishment of a great shipyard at a Baltic port at which only Russian workmen are to be employed and only Russian materials used; whether that company has agreed to complete the work at a cheaper rate than on the Thames; and, whether the Russian Government has guaranteed to keep the yard always supplied with work?
MR. CURZONThe rates of duty given in the Question are approximately correct. Information was received on the 28th ultimo from Her Majesty's Ambassador at St. Petersburg, to the effect that the Thames Ironworks were negotiating for a contract with the Russian Government for the construction of a naval dockyard in the Baltic, but we are informed that no result has yet been arrived at.