§ SIR DAVID WEDDERBURNsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of Slate for India, Whether it is intended to entrust the construction of the projected State Railways in India to the Public Works Department; and, if so, whether the Government considers the operation of that Department in the conduct of the works carried out by its means to have been satisfactory as regards cost and rapidity of construction; whether there is any truth in the report that some of the Officers of the Royal Engineer Corps, recently appointed to take charge of the new State lines, have had no practical experience of Railway works; and, whether the Government intends to transmit the materials required from England for the projected State lines through the medium of the Store Department?
MR. GRANT DUFFsaid, in reply to his hon. Friend's first Question, he had to state that it was intended to entrust the construction of these railways to the Public Works Department, which was now being reformed, or, he might say, re-organized, with special reference to its new duties. He was not aware anyone maintained that the working of that department had been hitherto entirely satisfactory. In reply to his second Question, he had to say that he did not know what reasons had guided the Government of India in choosing the particular 1745 Royal Engineer officers whom it had recently chosen for railway work. The Home Government did not interfere with the discretion of the Government of India in such a matter, but the Government of India had staked so much on the success of the State railways that he apprehended it might be safely trusted to choose the very best men it could find. In reply to his hon. Friend's third Question, he had to say that the matter about which he asked was still under consideration.