§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for 173 the Colonies whether the Secretary of State will confer with the Admiralty concerning the desirability of widening the channel of the waterway of St. George's Channel, Bermuda, so as to admit of the passage of vessels of deeper draught than those now able to use it with safety.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) The question of improving the waterway of St. George's Channel in the manner suggested has already engaged the attention of the Secretary of State, but there are grave financial difficulties in the way of the scheme; and, even if these difficulties were removed, it is very uncertain whether alterations in the channel could be made sufficient to permit the entry of large Transatlantic vessels. The Secretary of State does not feel able at present to take up the matter again.