§ 10. Sir ROBERT HUTCHISONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British Government recognises the right of American Consuls in the United Kingdom to withhold from British vessels clean bills of health on grounds other than those of the sanitary or health conditions of British ports or of the vessel or her crew; and whether an American Consul is justified under any treaty or agreement with the United States of America in refusing to issue a bill of health from Glasgow to Manila on the ground that he disapproves of the nature of part of a cargo which is not illegal in either Britain or the Philippines?
§ Sir B. CHADWICKI have been asked to reply. There is no treaty or agreement between this country and the 2272 United States regulating the issue of bills of health by the officers of the one country in ports of the other, and the issue of bills of health is governed by instructions given by the respective Governments. Neither Government is called upon to recognise the instructions given by the other.