§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYnominated the Select Committee as follows:—Sir Massey Lopes, Mr. Shaw Lefevre, Mr. Cavendish Bentinck, Sir George Balfour, Mr. Malcolm, Mr. Reed, Mr. Ritchie, and Four Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection.
§ MR. DILLWYNsaid, he was disappointed at the selection. There should have been a larger number of naval and military men upon it.
§ GENERAL SIR GEORGE BALFOURsaid, there had been as many as about eight previous inquiries into this harbour between 1836 and 1859, including therein the Royal Commissions, Select 865 Committees, and Departmental Committees, and in none of these inquiries had the Members appointed to make the inquiry been so restricted as the Committee now proposed was about to be formed; and, looking at the large outlay and the important character of the work, he regretted the Committee was to be so limited in number, and the Committee constituted a hybrid one, instead of a public Committee free to act, inquire, and report freely.
MR. BECKETT-DENISONwas surprised there was no Member on the Committee practically acquainted with the navigation of the Channel.
§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYsaid, the Committee was a large one for the consideration of a hybrid Bill, and the Committee of Selection would be able to remedy the other objection made, if necessary.
§
Motion agreed to.
Select Committee nominated:—Sir MASSEY LOPES, Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE, Mr. CAVENDISH BENTINCK, Sir GEORGE BALFOUR, Mr. MALCOLM, Mr. REED, Mr. RITCHIE, and Four Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection.—(Sir Charles Adderley.)
§ MR. DILLWYNmoved that it be an Instruction to the Select Committee on the Dover Pier and Harbour Bill, to report upon the advantages which the proposed Harbour, if successfully constructed, may afford to the defences of the Country in the case of an European war. He could not see of what benefit it could be to the country, even as a harbour of refuge, for the engineering evidence was strong as to the almost impossibility of preventing the silting up of the harbour. It could not be considered, therefore, that a case had been made out for the utility of the harbour in the Department of the Board of Trade. It was said, however, that it would be advantageous from a military point of view. His own opinion was that it would rather be a source of weakness; but he hoped the subject would be well considered, and that the Instruction he now moved for would be allowed.
§ GENERAL SIR GEORGE BALFOURseconded the Motion.
§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That it be an Instruction to the Select Committee, to report upon the advantages which the proposed Harbour, if successfully con-
866
structed, may afford to the defences of the Country in the case of an European war."—(Mr. Dillwyn.)
§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYsaid, he had no objection to the proposition, except that it seemed to be wholly unnecessary. If, however, any Member desired that this Instruction should be carried he would not oppose it.
§ SIR EDWARD WATKINsaid, he thought that the Committee should also be appointed to inquire into the uses of the harbour for the purposes of refuge and Channel communication, and proposed an Amendment to that effect.
§ Amendment proposed, to add at the end of the Question, the words "and for purposes of refuge and Channel communication."—(Sir Edward Watkin.)
§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYsaid, these were the very objects of the Bill, and the only danger of adopting the Amendment would be that it might limit the inquiry of the Committee.
§ Question, "That those words be there added," put, and agreed to.
§
Main Question, as amended, put, and agreed to.
Ordered, That it be an Instruction to the Select Committee, to report upon the advantages which the proposed Harbour, if successfully constructed, may afford to the defences of the Country in the case of an European war, and for purposes of refuge and Channel communication:—Power to send for persons, papers, and records.