§ MR. MACLEAN (Cardiff)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that the termini of the Indian and Russian Railway systems in Central Asia have now been brought within a very few hundred miles of each other, and that, when the projected line from Orenburg to Samarcand has been constructed, it will be easy to complete through railway communication from Calais to Calcutta without even a break at the Caspian, Her Majesty's Government propose to open negotiations with Russia for the establishment of this overland route, which, besides bringing London within 10 days of Calcutta, would provide India with facilities of access to the immense new markets which Russian railway enterprise is opening in Asia?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR, Manchester, E.)In answer, I have to say to my honourable Friend that the Question he puts to me must be determined upon far wider grounds than those which he has mentioned, and I am not at present in a position to make any announcement of policy on the subject.