§ CAPTAIN DONELANOn behalf of Mr. J. TUITE, I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether from time to time his Department has received reports of the general unsatisfactory management of railway-owned canals, and of the persistent neglect of certain companies to maintain in a proper navigable condition the canals in their possession, as required by Section 17 of the Railways and Canals Regulation Act of 1873; and, whether, having regard to the great public utility of those undertakings as a cheap means of transit for agricultural produce and certain classes of goods, he can see his way to recommend the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into and report on the best means of improving and developing the canal systems of the United Kingdom?
§ MR. RITCHIEThe Board of Trade have not recently received specific complaints of the management of railway-owned canals. I am not prepared, as at present advised, to recommend the appointment of a Select Committee to consider means of improving the canal systems of the United Kingdom.