§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETrose to call the attention of the House to the Report of the Select Committee in last Session on the works in Alderney, and to move for any Minute or Report which will explain the intentions of the Government 332 in regard to the maintenance of those works.
§ VISCOUNT HALIFAXrose and said, he had to make an appeal to his noble Friend. The Committee, of which the noble Duke was Chairman, had only made their Report last Session, and it was impossible that anything could have been done to the works without a Vote. The views of the Government did not, perhaps, differ very much from those expressed in the Report of the Committee; but they had not had sufficient time to go into the subject so thoroughly as to enable them to make any proposal in the Estimates for the present year. More than that—they understood that during the winter considerable injury had been done to the Breakwater. It was essential, therefore, that there should be an examination of the actual state of the Breakwater, and with that view Mr. Hawkshaw and Lieutenant Colonel A. Clarke, the two engineers who had examined the works, were about to again visit Alderney—they would go over during the Easter vacation. He hoped, therefore, his noble Friend would be good enough to postpone his Motion till after Easter. It was important to his noble Friend himself that he should be put in possession of the latest information as to the state of the Breakwater, and if he postponed his Motion the Government at the earliest possible period after Easter would state what their intentions were as regarded the subject of his noble Friend's Notice.
§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, he did not wish to press his Motion against the views of Her Majesty's Government, and therefore would accede to his noble Friend's request, but with the clear understanding that after Easter he (Viscount Halifax), or some other Member of the Government, would state what course it meant to pursue. Of course, it would be competent for him to make any Motion he might think it advisable to submit to their Lordships after he had heard what the Government proposed to do.