§ Mr. Ellissaid, he wished to ask a question of the right hon. Gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He (Mr. Ellis) held in his hand a copy of the second Report of the Railway Commissioners for Ireland, addressed "to the Queen's most excellent Majesty," and in a note at the end of page 93 he found the following—
So long back as in December, 1836, a body of capitalists, represented by Pierce Mahony, Esq., after an interview with the chief secretary, communicated to the commissioners a readiness to undertake any lines to the south-west that they should recommend, and offered to contribute 1,000l. towards mak- 979 ing the necessary survey, and in May, 1838, they repeated their desire, on understanding that the Commissioners' Report would be very shortly after presented to Parliament. They explained the cause of their not having pressed on Parliament any views of their own, as they considered, that such a proceeding must have tended to embarrass the execution of the propositions that should be made by us.And the note concludes thus—This is, no doubt, true, and we must think, that these gentlemen deserve credit for their forbearance. We have added the two letters to our appendix.In the other copies of this Report which he had seen, and which had been freely distributed, the note he had just read did not appear, and as it seemed to him to be of particular importance, especially after the complaints made by the hon. and learned Member for Dublin the other evening against that Report of the Commissioners, the question which he, therefore, wished to ask was, by what authority so important a note had been expunged in the other copies of the report to which he had alluded?
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequerwas not aware of the fact to which the hon. Member had called the attention of the House, but he would make inquiries on the subject.