§ SIR MARK STEWARTI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he has any official information showing that an armed Russian cruiser and torpedo destroyers are stationed in the Red Sea off Suez; and, if so, can he say if any Peninsular and Oriental steamers carrying the Union Jack, Peninsular and Oriental, and mail flags have been stopped; if any remonstrance has been made to the Russian Government; and, if so, has any apology been tendered; and if any of His Majesty's cruisers are in the Red Sea.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURHis Majesty's Government have no information that an armed Russian cruiser and torpedo destroyers are now stationed in the Red Sea oft Suez. They are informed that a Peninsular and Oriental steamer was visited and had her papers examined last month by a Russian warship in the Red Sea. The facts as at present known are insufficient to warrant a remonstrance to the Russian Government. None of His Majesty's cruisers are at present in the Red Sea.