§ 4. Mr. SNOWDENasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if the French armoured cruiser "Leon Gambetta" was sunk by the Austrian submarine U5; if the Austrian submarine was built in the Whitehead torpedo works at Fiume, Hungary; if this firm is British owned and controlled, and is a branch of the Whitehead Torpedo Company who have works at Weymouth; if at the outbreak of war five of the seven directors of the Hungarian Whitehead Company were British; and if he can say what was the approximate output of the Whitehead works at Fiume before the War broke out in torpedoes, floating mines, seaplanes, and other armament accessories?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAAccording to the Dutch Press the Navy Department in Vienna makes the claim referred to in the first part of the question. The submarine in question was built at Fiume. There is no information at the Admiralty regarding the rest of the question.
§ Mr. SNOWDENIs it within the knowledge of the Admiralty that these works at Fiume are a branch of the English torpedo works, and that for a considerable time they have been fully engaged in making torpedoes, submarines, and destroyers for the Austrian Government, which are now being used against the British Government?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThat question, if I may say so with respect, is the same as the three latter parts of the printed question, concerning which I have said there is no information at the Admiralty. I think the Fiume Company was the original company, and the original Whitehead, an expert engineer, there attached.
§ Mr. SNOWDENWith English capital?
§ Mr. W. THORNEIs this not what we understand as commercial morality?