HC Deb 27 October 1884 vol 293 cc245-8
MR. AGNEW

asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether he can state the facts respecting the taking up of rails on the Quetta Railway, referred to by the Right honourable Member for South West Lancashire and the honourable Member for Mid-Lincoln, in the following extracts:— Extract.—Sir R. Cross's Speech at Chester 18th October 1884. When the Conservatives were in office they were ever on that look-out, and they saw an opportunity for a great market for British goods, if they could only carry Railway communication further into the north of India. For commercial as well as for strategical purposes they laid down a Railway in that part of the country; and the Conservatives believed that if that Railway had been allowed to remain and had been extended, as they had provided it should be, there would have been now a large market for our produce in that part of the world, which would have tended very much to our benefit. The Government had now been in office four years, and had been obliged, to use a common phrase, to eat humble pie; and now they had begun to lay down the very rails which they had torn up, and of which they might have had the benefit years ago."—(Manchester Courier, 20th October 1884.) In reply Mr. Stanhope wrote: 'The Quetta Line was completed from the Indus to Sibi. This part was never touched, and is still working. Preparations were made for carrying it on to Quetta and Kandahar. The surveys were made, the earthwork was done, and some few miles of Railway were undoubtedly laid. The present Government abandoned all the line beyond Sibi, took up such of the rails as were laid and were on the spot, and conveyed them elsewhere.'"—(Bolton Chronicle, 18th October 1884.) He wrote to Sir R. A. Cross. He held in his hands that gentleman's reply, dated 9th October 1884, in which were the following words: 'You are right about the Quetta Line, which was laid down and pulled up.'"—(Bolton Chronicle, 18th October 1884.)

MR. J. K. CROSS

Before answering this Question, it would only be common courtesy to ask my right hon. Friend whether he admits the accuracy of the quotation, for certainly none will be more astonished at the report than the Colleagues of the right hon. Gentleman?

SIR R. ASSHETON CROSS

As to the first extract, I believe it is correct. I know nothing about the others.

MR. J. K. CROSS

I am quite aware; that the British public has for some time been possessed of the delusion that a wicked Liberal Government did take up a railway in India which a good Conservative Government had laid down. The facts of the case are correctly stated in the extract from the letter of the hon. Member for Mid Lincolnshire, except in the following important particulars:—The surveys which he described as made were not completed even to Quetta. As to the earthworks, which he describes as being to a considerable extent done, some were partially constructed; but in most cases they were not even begun. And the rails which were laid from Sibi to the foot of the Bolan Pass, and also to the foot of the Nari Gorge, some of which my hon. Friend says were taken up, are still there and still in use. My right hon. Friend the Member for South-West Lancashire seems to be under the impression that the railway was completed to Quetta and destroyed by the present Government. But no permanent way had been placed upon the earthworks north of the Nari Gorge; there was, therefore, no opportunity of pulling up the rails, as they had not been laid down.

SIR R. ASSHETON CROSS

I should like to ask the hon. Gentleman whether his attention has been called to the despatch of Mr. Rivers Thompson, which appeared in the Afghan Papers of 1881, from which I will read an extract, and in which he protests against the action of the Government. He says— But perhaps the most grievous and humiliating part of the order in this connection is that which affects not only the stoppage of the railway works now under construction, but the dismantling of the rails and the destruction of the earthworks already completed a considerable distance towards Quetta. This wilful and deliberate surrender of advantages gained after a vast expenditure of time and thought and money, and which would subserve peaceful administration much more than it would supply military requirements, is absolutely beyond the comprehension of any Native in the country.

MR. J. K. CROSS

If the right hon. Gentleman will give the date of the Paper I shall be glad to inquire into the matter. I find that there is no very definite information as to the pulling up of the rails at the India Office. I have, however, referred to Major General Trevor, Director General of Railways under the late Government, who is now in England, as to what are the facts of the case. Major General Trevor called upon me on Saturday morning last, and gave me the information as I have placed it before the House. He will be very glad to answer any question which any hon. Member may put to him; and as he was Director General of Railways in India up to the end of March, 1881, I should think that his evidence may be taken as being quite satisfactory on this point.

SIR R. ASSHETON CROSS

I will give the hon. Member the information he wants. The Minute of Mr. Rivers Thompson is to be found in Afghan Paper No. 3, 1881; and he will find there also another Minute to the same effect by Mr. Gibbs deploring the giving up of the railway.

MR. E. STANHOPE

Whilst having the greatest possible respect for Colonel Trevor, I should like to ask whether the Government will lay upon the Table the Report of some official of the Indian Government who saw the works, and who was connected with the works at the time the present Government came into power?

MR. J. K. CROSS

The greater part of those works were carried on after the present Government came into Office, and there was no question of giving them up until after the Battle of Maiwand, when the troops which were protecting the works were withdrawn. I shall be glad to lay any Papers on the subject on the Table.

MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT

Is it not a fact that if the policy of the late Government on the Indian Frontier had not been reversed the railway to Candahar would have been completed two years ago?

MR. J. K. CROSS

I am afraid I cannot answer any Question as to the policy of the late Government.