§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, having regard to the fact that the Treasury Committee of 1891 on Railways in the North-West of Scotland, consisting of Major General Hutchinson, R.E., C.B., Rear Admiral Sir G. S. Nares, K.C.B., and Henry Tennant, Esq., reported Loch Broom, Ross-shire, to be encumbered with islets and rocks, and that this Report has been repeatedly quoted in this House as a reason for refusing the promised grant in aid of the Garve and Ullapool Railway extension scheme, while the Admiralty charts show no islets or rocks in the course of vessels sailing to and from Ullapool, and the sailing directions, as well as the Admiralty officials, state that Loch Broom is 112 remarkably free from rocks and islets, a Committee of careful and competent persons will be appointed to inquire into the accuracy of the Report referred to?
§ SIR W. HARCOURTI do not think the Government could find a Committee of more careful and competent persons than that which has already reported.
§ MR. WEIRIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Secretary to the Admiralty has distinctly stated that Loch Broom is not encumbered with islets and rocks, while the Report of the Committee, to which the right hon. Gentleman refers, distinctly states that Loch Broom is encumbered with islands and rocks, and the Admiralty charts show no islets or rocks in the course of vessels sailing to and from Ullapool? May I hope the right hon. Gentleman will take some steps to set the matter right?
§ SIR W. HARCOURTI think Sir George Nares is a person who could form an opinion on the subject better than I or the hon. Member.
§ MR. WEIRThen am I to understand that the Secretary to the Admiralty is incompetent to give an accurate opinion, and that the Admiralty charts are inaccurate?
MR. WHITELAWDoes the right hon. Gentleman not know from his own experience that there are no islands or rocks to interfere with the navigation of Loch Broom, and also that, of the three gentlemen who formed the Committee, not one of them went near Loch Broom in order to find out the state of matters for themselves?
§ SIR W. HARCOURTI am loth to speak of my personal experience of the navigation of Loch Broom, but I should certainly say there were a good many islands at the mouth of Loch Broom.
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHI may be allowed to say that my answer, to which my hon. Friend has referred, was in reference to rocks interfering with navigation.