§ Mr. CLANCYasked the Secretary to the Treasury what statutory authority he has for commuting the charges to any steamers using Kingstown Harbour, when the commuted charge is not set out in the schedule of dues published by the Kingstown Harbour Commissioners; whether the commutation in this case relieves the London and North Western Railway Company of a payment of about £6,500 a year, which would otherwise have gone towards the upkeep of the port of Dublin, beside depriving the Post Office of a payment of more than double that amount; and whether there is any precedent for this preferential treatment of this company?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe statutory authority is 32 George. III., cap. 35, sec. 38, and 6 and 7 Will. IV., cap. 117, sec. 3. 1365W The second part of the question appears to assume that the London and North Western Railway Company would revert to the North Wall route if the charges at Kingstown were not commuted, an assumption which is not justified by the facts. The reference to loss of revenue to the Post Office appears to be made under a misapprehension. As already stated there has been no preferential treatment of the London and North Western Railway Company.