§ MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the profit upon the working of the Uganda Railway is a true profit, or the difference between actual working charges and gross receipts; whether £5,398,733 is the total cost of the line, including expenditure in Europe and in Africa and administration charges; whether the cost 646 per mile, with all such expenses added amount to £9,426;and whether that sum is adopted by the Government as the normal cost of construction of railways in Africa.
(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) When speaking of the profit upon the working of the Uganda Railway, I was referring, as the hon. Member suggests, to the difference between actual working charges and gross receipts. The total capital sum expended to the 31st March, 1906, namely, £5,398,733, includes all expenditure in Europe and Africa and also in Asia. The total amount issued from the Consolidated Fund for the construction of the railway is £5,502,592, and, as the length of the line is 584 miles, the cost per mile amounts to £9,422. It is not possible to adopt this or any other sum as the normal cost of construction of railways in Africa, as the cost is determined by such varying factors as the character of the line, the nature of the country and its accessibility, the amount of local labour available, and other conditions.