§ MR. HOLLOWAY (Gloucestershire, Stroud)asked the Secretary to the Board of Trade, Whether it is intended by the Board of Trade to publish with the Papers relating to the Thames and Severn Canal the Memorial presented to the Board on 29th November, 1886, from Mr. John H. Taunton, M. Inst. C.E., the late Engineer and General Manager of the Thames and Severn Canal, and a shareholder in that undertaking; and, whether the Board of Trade will take immediate steps for removing all control of the affairs of the Thames and Severn Canal Navigation from the Great Western Railway Company their nominees and agents?
§ THE SECRETARY (Baron HENRY DE WORMS) (Liverpool, East Toxteth)It is not proposed to present any further Papers, and the Board of Trade have no authority under any Act of Parliament to proceed in the way suggested I by the hon. Member. The President of the Board of Trade has, however, directed Mr. Courtenay Boyle, the Assistant Secretary Railway Department of the Board of Trade, to visit the locality and to make inquiries with the view of ascertaining whether any, and if so what, arrangements can be made to place the control 383 of the navigation in the hands of the, proprietors of the adjacent canals. Mr. Boyle is at the present moment engaged in making these inquiries on the spot.