§ MR. T. M. HEALYI beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, before the light railway line sanctioned by Mr. Price on the recommendation of Mr. Barton, and the line of Mr. Barton sanctioned by Mr. Price are approved by the Treasury, he will give his personal supervision to the proposed advances of public money involved in these schemes?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF HIE BXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN,) St. George's, Hanover SquareI think that I shall satisfy the hon. Member by saying that the necessary indispensable supervision of this question will rest mainly in the hands of my hon. Friend the Secretary to the Treasury, than whom there is no man more competent to deal with it. If, however, the hon. Member has any information which ought to be in the possession of the Treasury regarding this subject, I shall be glad if the hon. Member will communicate with us either personally or in writing.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYThe whole point is in a nutshell, namely, that one gentleman was appointed to supervise one line at the recommendation of one Government Inspector, and that the second gentleman was appointed to supervise another on the recommendation of the other Government Inspector—that the two, in point of fact, recommended each other. Is it the fact that in one of the cases the Grand Jury of the County of Galway were bullied into accepting the line? Surely this is a serious matter, and the hon. Gentleman ought to be able to give an explanation.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. JACKSON,) Leeds, N.The statement of the case made by the hon. and learned Gentleman is hardly a fail-one. No single member of a Court of five could decide the case any more than another member. I have previously stated that the utmost care was taken in arriving at a proper decision. The hon. Member is probably aware that in the case of Galway the scheme adopted was one which had been previously adopted by the Grand Jury.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYThe hon. Member is mistaken. It was the scheme of Mr. Whit by, an English gentleman, which was adopted.
§ MR. JACKSONThe scheme followed practically the same route.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYNo.
§ MR. JACKSONI shall be glad to give the hon. Member any information in the possession of the Treasury in order to convince him that at all events, as far as the Government are concerned, they have only had one object in view, namely, to secure the best scheme.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYWill the hon. Gentleman refer to Sir R. C. Cusack, the Chairman of the Midland and Great Western Railway, and ask him whether the line approved by the Grand Jury was Mr. Whitby's line or the Government's line?
§ MR. JACKSONI have no objection to refer to the Chairman of the Midland and Great Western Railway; but I understand that the arrangement was refused unless the ordinary principle adopted in the construction of railways was recognised.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYI shall be perfectly satisfied if the hon. Gentleman will refer to Sir R. Cusack.
§ MR. CLANCY (Dublin Co., N.)Was the threat made, that unless Mr. Price's line was adopted there would be no line at all; and is it not the fact that Mr. Price is the engineer of two or three works which are regarded as disgraceful swindles?
§ MR. JACKSONI am not aware of that fact.
§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)At the outset did not the Grand Jury refuse to make the line unless it was to be made on the old Irish railway gauge of 5 ft. 3 in.?
§ MR. JACKSONNo, Sir; there was no refusal, because it was never proposed.