THE EARL OF DONOUGHMOREcalled the attention of the noble Earl the President of the Council to a paragraph which had, he said, appeared in The Timesnewspaper of that morning, and which was to the following effect:—
It is understood that the Joint Committee of the Lords and Commons, of which Lord Granville is chairman, have decided to recommend the adoption of the inner circle portion of the Metropolitan District Railway scheme. With regard to the proposed north and south junction line, for connecting railways north and south of the Thames by means of a high level bridge, they prefer a junction line that shall utilize the Thames Tunnel, and thus connect the northern and southern railways without in any way obstructing the navigation of the Thames.He could not for a moment believe that that paragraph had been inserted on the authority of the noble Earl, but it would be, at the same time, satisfactory that he should rise in his place and disclaim all 849 responsibility in connection with it. It was, he thought, exceedingly undesirable that any premature information on so important a subject should be circulated in the newspapers.
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, that he had had nothing whatever to do with the communication in question. He might further add that the announcement was premature, for the Committee had not only not agreed to any Report, but those members of it who had been requested to draw up a draft Report had not yet performed that duty.