SIR FREDERIC SMITHsaid, he rose to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies Whether he has received any and what Tenders for a Railway from Colombo to Kandy; and if the Secretary of State for the Colonies has received any communication relative to a proposed Tram Railway from Colombo to Trinco 1193 malee, with a branch to Kandy, so as to develop the vast agricultural capabilities of the Colony?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUEreplied that several tenders had been received for the construction of the railway, but it would be unadvisable to state publicly the amounts of those tenders. A proposal, or rather a letter, relating to the construction of tramways, had reached the Secretary of State, from a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of parties at present unknown, and his noble Friend (the Duke of Newcastle) had replied that he had no objection to forward the statement to the Government of Ceylon.