§ MR. MURNAGHAN (Tyrone, Mid)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that dissatisfaction exists in Omagh owing to existing railway charges; is he aware that on Tuesday in each week the Great Northern Railway Company issues a market ticket to Belfast, and that the fare from Omagh is the same as from Deny, though Omagh is thirty-four miles nearer Belfast, and that the cost of carrying timber from Deny to Omagh is 6s. 3d. per ton, while the cost to Ballyshannon, though double the distance, is no more; is he also aware that the charge for conveying ten barrels of petroleum from Belfast to Omagh is as much as the charge for conveying fifteen barrels of petroleum, from New York to Belfast; and will he state if he has any power to restrain the Great Northern Railway Company of Ireland in the matter of preferential rates.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. RITCHIE,) CroydonThe Board of Trade are not aware that the circumstances are as stated by the hon. Member, and in cases where preferential rates are shown to exist the jurisdiction to order their abatement is in the Railway and Canal Commissioners, and not the Board of Trade. It has, however, given me pleasure to draw the attention of the railway company to the subject-matter of the hon. Member's question.