§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that a few days ago, at Tientsin, a tugboat, the "Ewo," flying the British flag, was fired upon by German troops, and that two of the crew were wounded, and the others imprisoned and flogged by the 768 German authorities; and whether His Majesty's Government have taken any, and, if so, what action in this matter.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Viscount CRANBORNE, Rochester)The British Consul General at Tientsin has reported that on the 4th instant a tug and lighter flying the British flag collided with a German pontoon bridge, and that German soldiers fired on the tug, wounding two Chinese, and subsequently boarded the lighter and took the crew on shore to the barracks. The matter was represented by the British general commanding at Tientsin to the German general, and the latter replied expressing regret for what had happened and promising to take measures to prevent similar violence in future.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDIs there any foundation for the statement that some of the crew of this boat were flogged in a German prison?
§ VISCOUNT CRANBORNEI shall have an opportunity of saying a word or two on this later on.