§ SIR JOHN BENN (Devonport)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will make inquiries as to the possibility of the Channel Fleet spending Christmas in England; whether he is aware that at Christmas, 1905, the Atlantic Fleet was called home for the Christmas leave, and the Channel Fleet was sent away, and that after this year's manœuvres the ships of the Atlantic Fleet proceeded to their respective ports and gave seven days leave, while the Channel Fleet returned to Portland and only gave four days leave; and whether
| Total length in miles. | Total cost. | Cost per mile. | Time under construction. | Time open for traffic. | (Estimated) Surplus over working expenses, in last 12 months. | |
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | |
| £ | £ | To 31st Dec. 1905. | ||||
| Sierra Leone (2' 6" gauge) | 226½ | 993,870 | 4,388 | 8 years | To Baiima since 23rd Aug. 1905 | £6,336 |
| Gold Coast (3' 6" gauge) | 168 | 1,781,756 | 10,606 | 5 years | To Kumasi since 1st Oct. 1903 | £47,941 |
| Lagos (now Southern Nigeria) (3" 6" gauge) | 125 | 882,961 | 7,064 | 4½ years | To Ibadan since Mar.1901 | £15,873 |
| Uganda Railway (3" 3" gauge) | 584 | 5,398,734 | 9,244 | 5½ years | 1st March 1902 | £56,678 |
§ it is proposed that the Channel Fleet, which is due to arrive at Portland on or about the 29th instant, is only to have three or four days leave, and then proceed to Vigo, thus again spending Christmas away.
§ (Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The Channel Fleet ships undergo their annual refit in the home dockyards, and then their crews obtain fourteen days' leave by watches. The ships of the Atlantic Fleet, being refitted at Gibraltar, do not have this advantage, and so leave at Christmas is afforded to them in lieu.