MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, having regard to the official statement on 21st October, 1902, that there were no negotiations going on upon the subject of the passage of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles by ships of war, His Majesty's Government have since been made aware that in 1901 a convention on the subject was made between Turkey and Russia providing special conditions for the passage of special Russian ships; and, if so, have the terms or stipulations of that convention been communicated to His Majesty's Government; and will they lay the communication upon the Table.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURWe are not aware of any convention of the kind referred to by my hon. friend.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have asked the Foreign Office, and they are not aware of any such convention.