§ MR. D. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state why the directors of the Clogher Valley (Ireland) Tramway do not publish returns of their traffic receipts and expenditure in the newspapers; if he is aware that the baronial cess in the district through which the tramway passes amounts to 1s. 8d. in the pound, of which one-half is absorbed as guarantee payment by the tramway; and, could a means be devised of working this comparatively short line with greater economy in its staff of officials, or otherwise, so that a heavy burden might be lifted from off the shoulders of the cesspayers?
§ MR. HANBURYI am informed that the Clogher Valley Tramway Company 471 print accounts half-yearly, which are distributed in the usual manner. The company is not under any obligation to publish returns more frequently. Taking the average of the two latest years for which the figures are available, the county cess upon the districts through which the tramway passes amounted to 2s. in the pound for the district in County Fermanagh, and to 2s. 9d. in the pound for the district in County Tyrone. The sums included for contribution to the tramway amounted during that period to 10d. in the pound in County Fermanagh and to 6½d. in County Tyrone. The question whether any means could be devised of working the line with greater economy could only be answered by the Treasury, after an inquiry under Section 7 of the Railway Act of 1896; and there appears to be no reason for the institution of such an inquiry.