§ COLONEL NOLAN (Galway, N.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the decision of a Russian Naval Court in the case of the "Calchas," which appears to define cotton as being contraband of war; and whether, seeing that the proportion of cotton used for military purposes is quite insignificant and could be easily replaced for warlike purposes by some other vegetable fibre, and that cotton is largely used for clothing in this country and constitutes an important branch of manufacture, under these circumstances the "Calchas" decision will be allowed to pass without protest.
THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATF FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Earl PERCY1239 Kensington, S.) His Majesty's Government have as yet only received a brief telegraphic summary of the decision. When the full text of the judgment is received they will consider whether any further action is desirable. As the hon. Member is no doubt aware, His Majesty's Ambassador at St. Petersburg has already brought the question of the treatment of raw cotton to the notice of the Russian Government in his note of October 9th last.
§ MR. FLAVIN (Kerry, N.)Is seaweed which is used for manuring purposes also contraband of war?
§ [No Answer was returned.]