§ SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether complaints havereached him that the coal industry in Bengal is cramped by the inability of the East India Railway to supply sufficient wagons to carry the coal from the mines to consumers, and for shipment; and whether, to 217 secure a better service, of wagons on that railway as well as a general extension of profitable lines, the Government of India can arrange to make the expenditure on them independent of the general administrative finances under borrowing powers such as were granted some years ago and then withdrawn.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingSome representations as to the insufficiency of the rolling-stock of the East India Railway for the conveyance of coal reached me about a year ago. A short time previously large additions to the rolling-stock had been sanctioned by the Government of India; further additions were sanctioned later in the year; and, so far as I am aware, all the requirements of the Company have now been met. Though all capital outlay for railway purposes raised upon the security of the revenues of India must be under the control of Government, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the adequate equipment of lines in working order should be a primary consideration in Indian railway administration.