MR. BRYNMOR JONES (Swansea District)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received any communication from the Russian Government as to, the possible treatment of neutral vessels having on board correspondents who may, by means of improved apparatus, communicate news to the Japanese fleet or army now operating against Russia, and of its intention to treat such correspondents as spies; and, if so, will he lay the com- 676 munication upon the Table or state its purport.
(Answered by Earl Percy.) The Russian circular to the Powers to which reference is made was communicated to His Majesty's Government on the 15th instant, and is now under consideration. It is to the following effect: The Russian Viceroy in the Far East has declared that if neutral steamships are seized off the coast of the Kwantung Peninsula or within the zone of military operations of the Russian naval forces having on board correspondents who are communicating information to the enemy by means of improved apparatus not contemplated in the Conventions dealing with such matters, the cases of such correspondents will be treated as cases of spying, and the vessels fitted with wireless telegraphy will be considered as lawful prizes.