§ MR. ASCROFTI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that, although Samshiri has now been an open port for over a year, and that the telegraph wires pass through Hokow, no telegraph station has been established at the port of Samshiri; whether he is aware that great inconvenience is suffered by British subjects in consequence of the nearest station at Sainan not having an English-speaking operator; and, whether he will consider the advisability of taking the necessary steps to remove the grievance of British traders stationed in that part of China.
§ * MR. BRODRICKThe absence of any telegraph station at Samshiri and the resulting inconvenience are referred to in 345 the report of the British Acting Consul for 1898, which has been presented to the House. There would no doubt be great advantage for commercial business that there should be a telegraph station nearer than three miles, but I fear that until other more important matters connected with our trade in China have been dealt with, we cannot make this a subject of diplomatic representation.