§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETsaid, he rose to put a question to the First Lord of the Admiralty. He wished to ask him if he had received a petition from the owners of fishing-boats at Deal, Walmer, and other places on the coast of Kent, complaining of the injuries that were done to their occupation by the buoys which the Submarine Telegraph Company had laid down across the North Sea, and whether the right hon. Gentleman would order those buoys to be removed?
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, the petition to which the noble Lord referred was received by the Admiralty yesterday, stating that the buoys in question caused them serious injury, in preventing them 1733 from laying out their nets. On receipt of this petition, the Board of Admiralty had required from the Submarine Telegraph Company some explanation of their proceedings. They had also communicated with the Trinity House, inquiring whether any complaints on the subject had reached them, and they were waiting answers from those parties before they took any decision. Since he had come into the House, however, an hon. Friend of his had put into his hands a memorandum from the Submarine Telegraph Company, stating that these buoys were put down to mark the spots where repairs were in progress on those parts of the cable which appeared to be damaged, and that the moment these repairs were completed the buoys would be removed. He could assure the noble Lord that the Board of Admiralty did not lose sight of this subject.