MR. GIBSON BOWLESTo ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the plan of operations against Venezuela agreed upon with Germany was that recommended by Vice Admiral Douglas, viz., that all the Venezuelan gunboats should be seized until our demands are complied with; whether, in view of the destruction of the two gunboats seized by the German naval force, and the consequent impossibility of holding them as pledges until our demands are complied with, His Majesty's Government propose to continue joint action with Germany; whether it is now proposed to establish a blockade of the Venezuelan ports; whether the objections to such a blockade, alluded to by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in his communication to the Admiralty of 22nd October, 1902, have been considered and removed; whether any intimation has been received from the Government of the United States that it will object to American shipping being interfered with; and, if so, how is it proposed to conduct the blockade.
(Answered by Mr. A. J. Balfour.) The answer to the first three Questions is in the affirmative, and to the fifth in the negative. The objections to a blockade have been carefully considered. They cannot, however, be altogether removed, as some of them are inherent in that particular class of naval operations.