§ SIR FORTESCUE FLANNERY () Yorkshire, ShipleyI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Royal Proclamation warning British subjects against trading with the burghers of the Transvaal Republic has not had the practical effect of stopping the transhipment of wool from 1084 Delagoa Bay, but that such transhipment is freely taking place in German steamers to the detriment of English vessels; whether a British shipowner who engaged with a neutral to carry wool, the property of a neutral trader, from Delagoa Bay to Port Natal would be contravening the proclamation above referred to; and whether any fresh instructions will be issued to the commandant at Port Natal.
§ *THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. BRODRICK,) Surrey, GuildfordThe proclamation prohibiting British subjects from trading with the enemy does not affect neutral ships. The question whether any particular act amounts to trade with the enemy by a British subject must be decided in accordance with the circumstances of each case as it arises. It does not appear that any fresh instructions to the commandant of Port Natal are necessary.
§ SIR FORTESCUE FLANNERYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the trade in wool with Delagoa Bay is undiminished, and that the only effect of the proclamation is to transfer that trade from English to German ships.
§ *MR. BRODRICKI must ask for notice of that question.