§ SIR CHARLES CAYZER (Barrow-in-Furness)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, in view of the fact that wheels and axles and other material for the use of the Indian State or Guaranteed Railways have been ordered from Messrs. Krupp and Company, Essen, and shipped at Hamburg for Calcutta by foreign vessels, and that tenders for railway wagons have been ordered in Austria and shipped at Trieste for Calcutta by foreign vessel, whether he can state the quantity in tons and value so ordered; and whether he will grant a Return showing the quantity in tons and value of all the railway material for the Indian State and Guaranteed Railways, and whether purchased at borne or abroad, and shipped in British or foreign vessels, for the last five years 1896 to 1900, inclusive, if moved for.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G.) HAMILTON, Middlesex, EalingI understand that one of the Indian railway companies has recently ordered thirty-one locomotive tenders from Messrs. Krupp, and fifty goods brake vans from a Hungarian firm, the total value of the two orders being £26,066. I cannot give the weight in tons. As regards the second question, I can at once furnish my hon. friend with the information he wants so far as State railways are concerned.