§ * SIR CHARLES DILKEI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether landing rights in Cornwall have now been conceded in respect of the direct cable to St. Vincent, and whether the laying of the strategic cable from Ascension to Sierra Leone has now been arranged; whether steps are being taken to lay a cable from Durban to Mauritius; whether landing rights have been conceded in respect of the extension of the Ascension, St. Helena, Cape Town, Durban, Mauritius, and England, Gib-
† See page 730 of this volume.934 raltar, Malta, Alexandria, Suez, Perim, Aden, Zanzibar, Seychelles, Mauritius; cables at Rodrigues, Cocos, and near Perth; and what prospect there now is of the construction of the Mauritius, Rodriguos, Cocos, Australia line.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EX-CHEQUER (Sir M. HICKS BEACH, Bristol, W.)Arrangements have been made with the Eastern Telegraph Company by which landing rights will be given for the cable to St. Vincent, one of the conditions of which is the laying of a cable from Ascension to Sierra Leone. The Eastern Telegraph Company has entered into an agreement with the Colonies of West and South Australia and Tasmania to construct with all convenient speed the line from Durban to Mauritius, Rodrigues, Cocos, and Fremantle in West Australia, and thence to Glenelgin, South Australia, as soon as landing rights have been granted. Landing rights have been granted in Natal and in West and South Australia, and the company has been informed that Her Majesty's Government are prepared to approve the granting of landing rights at Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Cocos, and will issue licences as soon as the general form of licence now under consideration has been settled.