§ SIR EDWARD WATKIN (Hythe)asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the Government railways in Ceylon are being worked for revenue, and not to promote cultivation and trade; whether complaints have reached him that the high rates of transport charged with this object seriously affect the planters of coffee, tea, and other crops in competing with planters in other countries; and, if he will have the subject investigated, with a view to the rates being assimilated to the English or American standards?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)(who replied) said: The Ceylon Government railways have been 1079 constructed, and are being worked, with the object of promoting cultivation and trade. There appear to have been no complaints of excessive rates, and there is no intention of assimilating them to the standards referred to. The railways having been constructed mainly for the benefit of the planting interest, it is not unreasonable that the charges should be fixed at such a rate as to throw upon that interest a fair share of the cost for which the whole taxpaying community is ultimately responsible. In these circumstances, there would be no advantage in any special investigation.