§ MR. YERBURGH (Chester)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the declaration with regard to the open door in China, to which the United States requested the leading Powers interested in the Far East to subscribe, embraced the questions arising in spheres of interest and leased territories, of customs duties and navigation dues, of vested interests, and of railway rates; whether each of the said Powers, excepting Russia, agreed to subscribe 588 to all the terms of the said declaration; and whether Russia confined her assent to the question of customs, and whether she has since extended it to the other two questions; and, if not, whether the Government accept such limited assent as fulfilling the condition laid down by Lord Salisbury, that to secure Great Britain's adherence to the declaration all the other Powers concerned must signify their acceptance of it.
§ * THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. BRODRICK, Surrey, Guildford)The correspondence which has been laid before Parliament contains all the communications which have passed on the subject.
§ MR. YERBURGHThe right hon Gentleman has not answered my question.
§ * MR. BRODRICKI am afraid my hon. friend must form his own conclusions from what I have said.