§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the detention of Mr. E. F. Henderson and other British subjects by the Venezuelan Government at Ciudad Bolivar in the month of August, 1908; whether there was any justification for such detention; and, if not, whether he will put forward a claim for compensation on behalf of those British subjects for the consideration of the Venezuelan Government?
Mr. McKINNON-WOODThe attention of His Majesty's Government was called to the detention of Mr. Henderson and other British subjects at Ciudad Bolivar last year. The detention was due to the suspension of passenger traffic on the River Orinoco, which made it impossible to leave the city by boat. After careful consideration and consultation with His Majesty's Minister, His Majesty's Government came to the conclusion that as it was within the competence of the Venezuelan Government to suspend the river traffic, which was entirely a matter of internal administration, in the interests of public security, which was menaced at the time, there was no ground for claiming compensation.