§ Sir CLEMENT HILLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the difficulties which the planters in Nyasaland are experiencing in getting their produce, including quantities of cotton, conveyed to the 30 coast for shipment to Europe; whether the progress of the Protectorate is in danger of being arrested by the inadequacy of the present means of transport; whether any communication on this subject has recently been received from the Governor or from the colonists urging the necessity for immediate action; and whether, in view of the consensus of opinion that it is urgently necessary to provide improved means of communication and transport without further delay, he is now in a position to make any definite statement as to the matters of a confidential nature which, as stated by him in July last, were then being arranged in reference to railway extension in Nyasaland?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Mr. Lewis Harcourt)My attention has been repeatedly called to the difficulties referred to, both by the Governor and on behalf of the planters, and I am fully alive to the need for improved means of communication. I am doing all that lies in my power to secure an improvement in the means of transport, but I regret that it is not at present possible for me to make any more explicit statement.