§ MR. THOMAS BAYLEY (Derbyshire, Chesterfield)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can inform the House of the number of miles of the Uganda Railway that were laid and completed by 1st January last, and of the cost of the railway to that date; and whether Her Majesty's Government is contracting or sub-contracting for labour on this railway with any of the Arab natives?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRSA hundred and twenty one miles of the Uganda Railway, of which 100 were open to traffic, had been laid and completed by the 1st of January last. The cost to that date amounted to £788,379 11s. 3d., including initial expenditure at Mombasa on workshops, buildings, lighters, machinery, water-supply, landing-stages, etc., etc., also expenditure on all kinds of railway plant, and material for future construction. So far as we are aware, no contract has been entered into with any Arab for the supply of labour.
§ MR. HERBERT LEWIS (Flint Borough)What will be the total mileage of the railway when completed?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRSI believe the original estimate of the mileage was 650, but the length has not yet been definitely settled.
§ MR. JOHN ELLIS (Notts, Rushcliffe)Will the right hon. Gentleman inform the House what relation the cost bears to the Estimate?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRSThat is a rather difficult question to answer, because a good deal of the expenditure is for what may be called prospecting work; that is, the pro- 868 vision of railway plant, which, of course, will be useful for a long time to come. An estimate of the cost has already been given in Papers laid upon the Table.