§ MR. WHALLEYasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether it be true that the Government have determined to withdraw the annual subsidy of £10,000 from the British India Steamship Company which has hitherto been granted to that Company to enable them to run a monthly steamer between Aden and Zanzibar, and having in view the fact that owing to the stoppage of the subsidy to the Union Company they have already ceased running between Natal and Zanzibar, they are aware that the whole of the East Coast of Africa between Aden and Natal will be without mail communication, and that utter ruin will be inflicted upon the rapidly growing trade between this Country and the East Coast, and the exploration, civilising, and opening up of the regions of Central Africa will receive a decided check by the withdrawal of these subsidies?
§ LORD FREDERICK CAVENDISHSir, the existing contract with the British India Steamship Company does not expire until the end of 1882, and if it be 1459 then renewed—which is not probable—it will be for political reasons only, as the present contract entails a heavy loss upon the Exchequer. I must observe that the Union Steamship Company now run a monthly line of steamers between the Cape, Natal, and Delagoa Bay. From the latter point vessels belonging to the British India Company run at regillar intervals to Zanzibar, and thence to Aden. There is, therefore, at present regular steam communication along the whole East Coast of Africa, and this would probably continue even after the withdrawal of the Aden and Zanzibar subsidy. I must also remind my hon. Friend that the new line of telegraph from Aden to Natal, which touches at Zanzibar, Mozambique, and Delagoa Bay, and to which a large subsidy is paid by this country, has provided great additional facilities for trade and exploration.