§ MR. BOWYERsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether Her Majesty's Government had any estimate of the number of troops which would be required to protect the line of telegraph from Seleucia to Bassorah, and who was to pay for the maintenance of such troops; also, whether Her Majesty's Government had any estimate of the amount of subsidies which must be given to the Arab tribes to forbear from injuring or interfering with the telegraph?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that the protection of the line of telegraph in the Turkish dominions was part of the general system of police which the Turkish Government would establish in that portion of the empire of the Sultan. He had no reason to suppose that proper precautions would not be taken for the security of the telegraph.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, in answer to the second question of the hon. Member, he had to state, that all that the Government had done was, in certain contingencies, to guarantee to the Company which had undertaken to establish this telegraphic communication 2481 certain payments. It was in no respect answerable for the construction of the telegraph or for its protection from Arabs. Those matters were entirely the affairs of the Company.