MR. CATHCART WASONI beg to ask the Postmaster-General if application has been made to him to permit the mail boat conveying mails from Scrabster to Scapa, and vice versa, to land passengers at Aith Hope or elsewhere; and if, in view of the inconvenience that has followed the granting of this privilege in the past, he will adhere to the promise of his predecessor, Lord Stanley.
§ CAPTAIN NORTON (for Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON)My right hon. friend has received a request that the Orkney mail steamer should be allowed to call occasionally at Aith Hope to land 1539 passengers; but, in view of the delay which such calls would entail, he has decided not to alter the existing arrangement under which the steamer is allowed to call for passenger purposes at Switha—but not at Aith Hope—under the conditions described in the letter which Lord Stanley addressed to the hon. Member on the 9th June, 1904.