THE EARL OF RONALDSHAY (Middlesex, Hornsey)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the survey party under Mr. Lilley, of the Indian Public Works Department, despatched by the Government of India from Bhamo in January last to report on the practicability or otherwise of the construction of a railway between Téng Yüeh and Tali Fu, in Yunnan province, has returned to Burma; whether they have reported favourably to the construction of a railway or not; and whether, in view of the interest taken by the mercantile community in this country in the question, their Report or an abstract of their Report will be made accessible to the public.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. CHARLES HOBHOUSE, Bristol, E.)The Secretary of State has received a copy of Mr. Lilley's Reports of his investigations of 1588 the country between Téng Yüeh and Tali Fu; but in the present state of the question of railway construction in these regions, it would not be in the public interest to publish these Reports.