§ MR. CHARLES M'ARTHUR (Liverpool, Exchange)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the fact that the funds for the construction and maintenance of the lighthouses of the United Kingdom are derived from a tax on shipping, and of the remarks of the Mercantile Marine Fund Committee of 1894 as to the absence of shipowners on the English Board, the absence not only of shipowners but of shipmasters on the Scotch Board, and the uncertain and small proportion of men bearing such qualifications on the Irish Board, he will initiate such measures as will give shipowners, who pay the tax, direct representation upon the Lighthouse Boards of England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. W. H. LONG,) Liverpool, West DerbyMy right honourable Friend has asked me to reply to Questions addressed to him to-day. This matter is receiving the careful consideration of my right honourable Friend, but I am not able to make any announcement on the subject at the present moment.