§ BARON HENRY DE WORMSasked the President of the Board of Trade, If he would explain why, in the letter of Mr. Vernon Harcourt, Gas Referee to the Board of Trade, printed at page 29 of the Parliamentary Papers recently issued on the, subject of Lighthouse Illuminants, there are stars, signifying omissions; whether these omissions refer to the fact that Sir James Douglass had 783 sold his lighthouse patents to a Company for a very large sum of money, and also contain an opinion by Mr. Vernon Harcourt adverse to the merits of the Douglass burner; and, whether he will have any objection to print the letter in full?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINwas understood to say that the particular document referred to by the hon Gentleman was distinctly stated in the Parliamentary Papers to be an enclosure from the Board of Trade to the Trinity House. It was referred to in that letter as extracts from a communication from Mr. Vernon Harcourt; and it was printed in the Papers precisely as it was sent to Trinity House. There would be no objection to let the hon. Member see the letter in full.
§ COLONEL KING-HARMANWill the right hon. Gentleman say whether the Lighthouse Illuminants Committee is proceeding with its work now, and whether the Irish Lights Commissioners have joined it?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINI am not quite certain whether the Committee is proceeding with its work in the absence of the representatives of the Irish Board. We have communicated from the Board of Trade to the Irish Board the views of the Lighthouse Committee on the subject of difference between them, and we are awaiting their reply.