HC Deb 28 March 1905 vol 143 c1372
MR. HERBERT SAMUEL (Yorkshire, Cleveland)

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether an Act has been passed by the Reichstag of the German Empire for the construction of a railway through the Cameroons to Lake Tchad; and whether His Majesty's Government propose to construct a light railway from the Niger to Zaria in order to develop the cotton-growing industry and the general trade of Northern Nigeria, and with a view to the continuation of such a railway to Kano and ultimately to the Lake Tchad region.

MR. LYTTELTON

I have no information as to the German railway beyond the statement which appeared in the Press on the 24th instant, to the effect that His Imperial Majesty had signed a Bill for the construction of a railway from the Cameroons to Lake Chad, and that a sum equivalent to £650,000 was required for the first 100 miles. A survey for a railway from the Niger to Zaria was completed last year, but no decision to construct such a railway has yet been taken.