§ *SIR CHARLES DILKEI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether steps have been taken to secure tile possibility of messages to Cape Town by the new cable of the Eastern Telegraph Company, in respect of which a payment of £10,000 has been made in the present financial year, being sent without passing through any foreign stations; or whether it is contemplated that all messages shall continue to pass through a Portuguese station.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.The payment of £10,000 was made merely to secure the opening of the cable between Cape Town, St. 587 Helena, and Ascension at the earliest possible date, and had no reference to the matter alluded to in the question. That cable will, I believe, be extended to St. Vincent, through which, as now, messages will pass.