§ SIR EDWARD SASSOONI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he would state the reasons which necessitated the conclusion of a fresh agreement with the Eastern and South Africa Telegraph Company for a prolonged period, based upon certain stipulations and subsidies, without waiting for the Report of the Cable Committee appointed for the special purpose of examining and reporting upon these very terms and conditions; also whether the omission of an expropriation clause on fair terms was intentional.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe completion of this arrangement has 291 been delayed by protracted negotiations on points of detail, but its principle was accepted by His Majesty's Government and the Cape Government nearly a year before the Cable Committee was appointed.
§ SIR EDWARD SASSOONput a question which was inaudible.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINOn that point we are waiting for the opinion of the Cable Committee, which specially directed its attention to this point. I can express no opinion until we have their Report.