§ MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHY (Londonderry)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies if it is the fact that the Canadian Government have entered into an arrangement with the 57 Orient Steamship Company of London for the conveyance of the Canadian mail between Plymouth and Canada, which has been for many years carried by Messrs. Allan, of Glasgow and Liverpool, between Liverpool and Canada via Londonderry; whether he is aware that it is not alone a matter of great importance to Londonderry that the service via Londonderry should be maintained, but it is also most important to Ireland generally, as the change in the service would have the effect of cutting off to a considerable extent the intercourse with Canada; and whether his attention has been called to the advantages which a subsidy from the Canadian Government for carrying the mails by steamers, which must call at a French port, and with a subvention from the British Government to the same vessels as Admiralty cruisers, together with the French export bounties, will give to the French manufacturers in Canadian markets over the British manufacturers, who will have to export their goods from Glasgow and Liverpool by unsubsidised steamers, and without the other advantages enjoyed by the French manufacturer?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSThe details of the contract between the Orient Steamship Company and the Canadian Government are under the control of the Dominion Government, and the considerations referred to by the hon. Member do not appear to justify Her Majesty's Government in making any official representations to Canada on the subject. The improved arrangements are, it is understood, highly appreciated by the public; and they form a part of the great system of communication between this country and the far East, via Canada, from which important advantages are anticipated.