§ MR. T. BAYLEYI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is in a position to state if the Government has now decided to give any guarantee of any portion of the railway proposed by Mr. Cecil Rhodes to connect the Cape with Cairo, or of any other proposed new railway in Africa?
§ MR. DILLONBefore the right honourable Gentleman answers the question, may I ask whether his attention has been directed to a leader in the "Times" of this morning, and whether the statement there made with regard to the intentions of the Government with regard to guaranteeing a portion of the railway is correct?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERI have not seen the article, and therefore cannot give an answer to that Question. We have no proposal now before us for a guarantee of any new railway in Africa. The proposal before us relates solely to the existing Bechuanaland Railway from Mafeking to Bulawayo, and communications are still proceeding with regard to it.