§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON () CanterburyTo ask the Postmaster General, whether his attention has been drawn to the dates for the expiration of the licences for the two Cable Companies to Spain, viz. the Direct Spanish in 1903, and the Eastern in 1904; whether, in view of the purchase and working by the Governments of the cables between England and France, England and Holland, and England and Germany, steps will be taken to establish Government cables between England and Spain.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) I am aware that the licences to which my hon. friend refers will expire on the dates he mentions; reference was indeed made to this in the case of the Eastern Telegraph Company in the answer I gave him on the llth instant, in which I stated that, on the recommendation of the Inter-departmental Committee on Cable Communications, certain action would be taken in connection with the renewal of that company's landing rights at Porthcurno. I am not in a position to afford my hon. friend any further information, but the whole question will receive the careful consideration of His Majesty's Government.