§ MR. BIGGARasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Did the Lords of the Treasury advance £26,000 to the Dundalk Harbour Commissioners for the purpose of enabling them to effect im- 424 provements in the port and harbour of that town; was this sum of money advanced on the undertaking of the said Commissioners to pay the interest thereon, as well as the specified half-yearly instalments of the principal; did the Commissioners in their application for said loan represent that they would be able to pay the said interest and instalment half-yearly, as well as to proceed with the much required improvement of the harbour; is it true that the balance sheets of the Commissioners for several years past show that their expenditure exceeds their income by several thousand pounds; did the Commissioners in August 1883, in a memorial to the Lords of the Treasury, ask for a postponement of the instalments of, and interest on, the money advanced to them; and, if so, what was the reply of the Lords of the Treasury to this memorial; is it true that the dredging machinery (for the purchase of which the sum of £26,000 aforesaid was borrowed from the Treasury) has been recently left idle, instead of being employed in effecting the necessary improvements of the harbour: have the Commissioners failure to pay, not only the instalments of, but also the interest on, the loan advanced to them by the Treasury; is it true that, in consequence of the limited nature of the franchise for the election of the Harbour Commissioners, this important Trust has been for twenty-five years in the hands of persons in whose election the general body of ratepayers had no voice; if it is a fact that the Commissioners failed to carry out the promises contained in their memorial to the Lords of the Treasury of August 1883, and is it also a fact that the necessary works for the improvement of the harbour have been suspended; and, will the Government hold an inquiry into the management of this trust, the feasibility of and necessity for the improvement of the port as well as to the desirability of varying and extending the franchise under which the election of members to this board is held?
§ MR. COURTNEYsaid, that the facts with regard to this harbour were substantially as stated in the Question, except that the interest on the Government loan had been duly obtained, paid up to gale day. The expenditure was much smaller than the hon. Member stated. The overdraft last year was £500. The 425 repayments of the loan were postponed for five years conditionally on a moderate increase of the harbour dues, which had not been carried out. He had no information as to the mode of election of the Harbour Commissioners. The Government would consider what action should be taken in the case of the failure of those Commissioners to fulfil their engagements and discharge their duties.