Mr. POINTERasked the Postmaster-General whether the British Government 1787 has purchased from the Great Northern Telegraph Company their interst in the working of the telegraph service between Great Britain and Norway; whether a new cable has been jointly laid by the British and Norwegian Governments; whether it is in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the two countries that the working of these cables should be farmed to the Great Northern Telegraph Company on the British side only; and whether he will state when arrangements will be made to institute direct interchange of telegrams between the two State services and to place the British telegraphists employed in the working of these cables upon the establishment of the postal telegraph service?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELIt is the case that the telegraph service between the United Kingdom and Norway has been acquired by the British and Norwegian Governments and a new cable has been laid jointly by the two Governments. The relative agreement contemplates that the working of the service in this country shall be entrusted for a term of years to the Great Northern Telegraph Company, in whose hands the working of the remainder of the Scandinavian system still remains.