§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, having regard to the necessity for electrical communication with lightships stationed off the coast of the United Kingdom, will he state why the sum of £663 2s. lld. of the Grant in aid for electrical communication with lightships was not expended during the financial year 1897–8.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. RITCHIE, Croydon)The sum referred to by the honourable Member was the balance of the Grant in aid for electrical communication with lightships not expended during the financial year 1896–7, not 1897–8, as would appear from the honourable Member's question. This sum was not expended during 1896–7 because part of the work for which it was voted could not be completed within that year. It was carried forward to 1897–8, and spent in that year.