§ SIR CHARLES DILKEI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is possible to lay before Parliament any agreements and correspondence between Her Majesty's Government on the one side, and the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company, and the Great Northern Telegraph Company, on the other side, relating to the submarine telegraph cables which land at Woosung (for Shanghai), Hong Kong, Labuan, Singapore, and Penang.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN, Birmingham, W.)Perhaps I may be allowed to answer this for my right hon. friend. The latest agreement—that of 1893—can be laid before Parliament if desired, but the earlier correspondence is not only in part of a confidential nature, but is also very voluminous, and extends over many years. I fear, therefore, that it could not be given.