*SIR CHARLES DILKE () Gloucestershire, Forest of DeanI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the attention of the Government has been directed to the recommendation of the Committee on Cable Communications, presided over by Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in favour of a cable connecting the Cocos and Ceylon, or the Cocos and Singapore, and thus giving an alternative and an all-British line to India; and whether any steps are being taken towards the construction of such a cable.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.The matter is engaging the attention of the Govenrment at the present time. We are waiting a reply from the Government of India, with whom we have been in communication.