§ MR. T. LOUGH (Islington, W.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether the Government have approved certain plans for the construction of Light Railways in Egypt, the principle on which these railways are to be constructed being that the Egyptian Government guarantee a certain interest on the capital, which will not have to be paid as the lines may become remunerative; and, if so, whether it will be possible for the Standing Committee on Trade, to which the English Light Railways Bill has been referred, to make such alterations in the financial proposals of that Bill as would bring it into conformity with the Egyptian plan?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (MR. C. T. RITCHIE,) CroydonThe hon. Member probably refers, in the first portion of his Question, to the Light Railway mentioned in Lord Cromer's last Report (see Egypt No. 1, 1896, p. 12). The matter is one which concerns the Egyptian Government alone, and Her Majesty's Government were not consulted as to the plans for the railway or the terms of the concession. I anticipate that the Light Railways Bill will be in Committee the day after to-morrow, and the Government will then be prepared to give their views on the question of guarantee.