§ MR. PIRIEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the importance of securing a commercial and strategic waterway connecting the West of Scotland with the new naval base of the Firth of Forth, and of the fact that it is not at present intended to devote naval funds for that purpose, he will consider the desirability of examining the possibility of enlarging the existing Forth and Clyde Canal on the lines of the recently executed Kiel Canal, and of publishing a report as to the cost and time required for the execution of such a work.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.I ought not to pretend to the hon. Gentleman or to the House that it is within the scope of the Admiralty plan, as at present arranged, to devote public money to such a purpose as the hon. Member suggests.
§ MR. EUGENE WASON (Clackmannan and Kinross)Will the right hon. Gentleman be prepared to guarantee interest at 2½ per cent. if the money was raised privately?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThat is a Question which should be addressed to my long-suffering colleague the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe hon. Gentleman distinctly advocates this expenditure on naval strategical grounds.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURBut mainly on Admiralty grounds, and the cost would therefore have to be defrayed out of Navy Votes.