§ MR. NORMAN (Wolverhampton, S.)To ask the Secretary of State for India if he is aware that about 660 tons of Railway material for the Madras railways 727 were shipped from Middlesbrough by the German steamship "Rudesheimer" on 4th July, and about 1,280 tons by the German steamship "Goldenfels" on 25th June; if he can state whether all the locomotives shipped from Middlesbrough for the Madras Railways since 1886 have been carried by German steamships, and whether tenders for this freight have been asked from British shipowners; if not, can he state why this preference has been given by an Indian Government Railway to German firms; and will he take steps to give British steamship owners the opportunity of tendering for such freight in future.
(Answered by Secretary Lord George Hamilton.) The hon. Member is mistaken in describing the Madras Railway, for which, as stated in the Question, these materials were ordered, as an Indian Government Railway. It is not a State line, but it is the property of a company, by whom arrangements for its working and maintenance are made. The Question would seem, therefore, to have been addressed to me under a misapprehension.