§ Mr. INSKIPasked the Uuder-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the case of the "Porto Alexandre," in which a claim by British salvors was successfully resisted by the Portuguese Government on the sole ground that they were the owners of the vessel, and to the ease of the British as. "Waiwera," in which the Portuguese Government refused to pay damages for the negligence of the Portuguese ss. "Espozende" on the same ground; and whether, having regard to the growing practice of State-ownership of trading vessels and to the immunity of foreign governments from the ordinary law of the sea, His Majesty's Government will take steps to arrange a convention under which foreign governments will submit to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court in the same way as private shipowners?
Mr. HARMSWORTHI am aware of the cases to which the hon. Member refers, and I will consult the other Departments of His Majesty's Government concerned on the question of approaching foreign governments in the sense suggested.