§ MR. J. DEVLIN (Belfast W.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, whether his attention has been called to the fact that a plebiscite of Belfast citizens is to be taken on the question of the agreement of the 1st May, 1907, under which the Belfast 1223 Corporation were to take over the Cavehill and Whitewell Tramways for the sum of £60,000; whether he is aware that the Belfast Trades' Council has issued a manifesto, opposing the purchase, in the interests of the wage-earners: whether Messrs. J. and G. White and Co., who constructed the tramways, are the same firm as, or in anyway connected with, the British Electric Traction Company: whether he is aware that Messrs White and Co. undertook the work without any contract, except that they were to receive £50,000 worth of shares in the tramway company, and that the cost of the tramways was about £10,000; whether he is aware that some of the members of the Belfast Corporation are shareholders in the tramway company, and that Mr. Nance, the manager of the Belfast Corporation Tramways, was, in 1904, chairman of the directors of the Cavehill and White well Tramway Company, and that one of the present directors of the company is Mr. Robert Dunlop, a member of the Belfast Corporation; and whether, seeing that the balance sheet for 1906 showed that the capital outlay on the old line was £13,525 odd, and that the traffic receipts of the tramways for 48 weeks ending the 6th of December last were £4,076, being a decrease of £230 on the same period of the previous year, the Local Government Board proposes to take any action to safeguard the interests of the ratepayers in the matter.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Local Government Board had no information in regard to the matters of fact alleged in the Question, but have been furnished by the Town Clerk of Belfast with the following statement on the subject:—"A plebiscite was taken in regard to the proposed purchase of the Cavehill and Whitewell tramways, and it resulted in favour of the confirmation of the agreement for purchase by a majority of 12,158 votes. A circular was issued against the Bill by the Trades' Council, but the circular did not correctly state the facts. The Corporation have no information as to any connection between Messrs. White and Company and the British Electric Traction Company, and all dealings of the Corporation in reference to the purchase of the tramways were with the Cavehill and Whitewell Tramways Company alone. The Cor- 1224 poration do not know of any arrangements between Messrs. White and the said tramway company for the reconstruction of the line, but the cost of reconstruction and electrification has been estimated at over £40,000, in addition to the £13,523 paid for the old horse line. Two members of the council are shareholders in the Cavehill and Whitewell Tramways Company. One of them, Mr. Robert Dunlop, is a director of that company. Neither he nor the other share holder took any part or voted in the council on the negotiations for the purchase by the Corporation. Mr. Nance was chairman of the Cavehill and White-well Tram ways Company previous to 1904, but then resigned his chairmanship and parted with his shares, severing his connection with the company. The last balance sheet of the company showed the capital outlay on the old line as £13,523 odd, but did not state the traffic receipts for the 48 weeks ending 6th December last. When the line is worked by the Corporation, in conjunction with their own tramways, it is expected that there will be a considerable increase without corresponding additional outlay, and that the line will be a paying one." On 21st December last the Local Government Board gave their approval, under Section 5 of the Borough Funds Act, to the resolution of the Corporation proposing to apply the local funds or rates to the payment of costs and expenses attending the promotion of the Bill, no objection having been received within the time specified by Section 6 of the Act. At a later stage the Board will have to issue a certificate stating whether the application contained in the Bill is made with or without their sanction and approval. The matters referred to in the Question would be rather for the consideration of the parliamentary Committee before whom the Bill may come than for the Board.