§ MR. CAYZER (Barrow-in-Furness)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can state the amount of profit the Egyptian Lighthouse Department has derived from lighting the northern portion of the Red Sea under their jurisdiction during the last 10 years; how this profit has been applied; and whether Her Majesty's Government will take steps to obtain a reduction of these dues, which bear very heavily on vessels trading through the Red Sea?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY, Northumberland, Berwick)It is not possible to state the amount of profit which the Egyptian Lighthouse Department derives from the particular portion of their establishments referred to, because the receipts for the whole lighthouse system are presented in a lump sum. The total excess of the receipts of the Lighthouse Service over the expenditure is considerable; and this excess forms an asset in the general Revenues of Egypt, which goes to defray the general expenses of the Egyptian Government. In the Correspondence respecting a new Commercial Convention with Egypt, Parliamentary Paper Commercial No. 9 of 1890, it is explained that the Egyptian Lighthouse Dues will be reduced by £E40,000 a year when the new Egyptian Tariff comes into operation; but the negotiations between Egypt and other countries for this purpose are not yet completed.
§ MR. CAYZERIs it not a fact that there is a profit of something like £90,000 on these Egyptian lighthouses?
§ SIR E. GREYI cannot say whether that is so; the profit on them is considerable.
§ MR. MACFARLANE (Argyll)Will the Government use their influence with the Egyptian Government to get an increase in the number of lighthouses, which is very necessary?
§ SIR E. GREYWe hope to induce the Egyptian Government to reduce the dues, and that would, of course, diminish the available profits proportionately.