§ SIR J. KITSON (York W.R., Colne Valley)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the continued extension of the metre and other smaller gauges of railways in India in competition with the legitimate spheres of the standard gauge; and whether he will take stops towards defining the scope of the smaller gauges.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONI am quite aware of the importance of defining the limits within which the metre gauge and other smaller gauges should be used. They are sanctioned, not in competition with the standard gauge, but either for feeder lines, as an improvement on ordinary roads, or for railway systems in districts such as Burma, where broad-gauge lines would he impracticable on account of their comparatively high cost.