ADMIRAL FIELD (Sussex, Eastbourne)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has considered the Report of the Royal Commission on Electrical Communication with Light Ships and Light Houses, and is prepared to carry out, in conjunction with the Postmaster General, the recommendations contained therein in respect of the five light vessels, the 17 shore light houses, and the "Gunfleet" pile light house, which they advise should he connected by telephone immediately, as being the most economical and most easily worked by men not specially trained; also, as regards the three light houses on Caldy Island, Lundy Island, and Tuskar Rock, will he carry out the recommendation to connect them by telephone with continuous cables, and the "Fastnet" light house with a non-continuous cable, as recently tried at "The Needles"; and whether he will call the attention of the Trinity Board to the fact that three of the five vessels named are considered unsuitable for the electrical communication recommended, with a view to their being replaced by vessels of a more efficient class?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. MUNDELLA,) Sheffield, BrightsideAs I have already stated to the House, I am in communication with the Treasury and the Postmaster General on this subject, and I can assure the hon. and gallant Member that it is receiving my most careful consideration.