§ MR. PIRIEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been drawn to a resolution of the National Sea Fisheries Conference, held on the 31st March, as to the desirability of establishing telegraphic communication between this country and the Faroe Islands and Iceland; and whether, seeing that the Great Northern Telegraphic Company of Copenhagen are prepared to construct and maintain the cable, besides granting preferential conditions as to the transmission of telegrams, if given an annual subsidy of 40 about £3,000 for 20 years, the Government are prepared to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity, more especially in view of the importance of the question to the Admiralty and to the meteorological stations, as well as to the fishing and commercial interests between this country and Iceland, which interests are annually increasing in importance and seriously suffering from the want of such communication?
§ MR. HANBURYA copy of the resolution of the National Sea Fisheries Conference was forwarded to the Treasury. Subsidies are granted by Her Majesty's Government for telegraphic communication only as regards cables which are considered to be necessary for purposes of Imperial defence or administration. The Great Northern Telegraphic Company is, in fact, a foreign company, and I know of no instance of such a subsidy to such a company; and no evidence has been laid before the Treasury to show that this scheme would afford such advantage to our national interests as would justify the proposed subsidy from the Exchequer.