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Enclosure in No. 18. [Bxtraot from the Times, 16th July, 1901.] Canadian Pacific Cable. Sir E. Sassoon (Hythe) asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he would state to the House, in connection with the Canadian Pacific cable, how much of the material had already been manufactured and delivered, what instalments had been paid, and whether, in view of the provisions for the completion of the work by the end of 1902, satisfactory progress had been made towards the fulfilment of the contract. Mr. Austen Chamberlain (Worcestershire, E.). —None of the cable has yet been manufactured or delivered, but several cable-houses have been sent out, and are being erected at the several landing-places selected. The surveying-ship has already sounded the route over a distance of 1,500 miles, and is now engaged on the same work between Norfolk Island and Fiji. The landingplaces of the cable in Queensland, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and Vancouver have been decided upon, and preliminary arrangements made for the construction of staff quarters and station buildings. lam informed that the manufacture of the cable begins this week. One instalment of £287,463 due under the contract on the 31st March last has been paid to the contractors. lam informed that the engineers of the Pacific Cable Board are satisfied with the progress made, and with the ability of the contractors to complete the work by the end of 1902.

No. 19. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Premier. Westminster Chambers, 13, Victoria Street, London, S.W., 19th July, 1901. (Memorandum.) State-owned Gables. I beg to enclose herewith copy of a printed circular letter from the Ottawa Board of Trade on State-owned cables and an Imperial postal cable service for the Empire, with appendices by Sir Sandford Fleming, which will be of interest. W. P. Beeves.

Enclosure in No. 19. The Board of Trade of the City of Ottawa to the Agent-General. Sir,— Ottawa, 20th June, 1901. The President and Council of the Ottawa Board of Trade have the honour to place before you the enclosed circular letter addressed to the Boards of Trade and Chambers of Commerce throughout the British Empire. The Ottawa Board of Trade, in directing attention to the enclosed, and in seeking your aid and co-operation, does so under the firm conviction that the movement to nationalise our cable and telegraph service is a matter of primary importance to the British people around the globe, and one of the most effective means of advancing their common interests. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. John Coates, President.

Sub-enclosure to Enclosure in No. 19. Circular Letter from the Ottawa Board op Trade on State-owned Cables and an Imperial Postal Cable Service for the Empire ; with Appendices on the Same Subjects by Sir Sandford Fleming : Addressed to Various Bodies representing Trade and Commerce throughout the Empire. The Board of Trade of the City of Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa, 20th June, 1901. On behalf of the Ottawa Board of Trade, the President and Council have the honour to submit the following remarks, together with the appendices hereto, on the movement to secure the cheapest, the speediest, the freest, and the most effective means of intercourse between all the King's subjects throughout his vast empire. Bepresenting trade and commerce in the capital of Canada, the Ottawa Board of Trade feels it a public duty incumbent upon them to take this means of expressing the conviction they have reached that all the British possessions throughout the world should be directly connected by State-owned telegraph cables under the control of the Post Office. Such a scheme is regarded by members of the Board as an effective means of fostering trade and stimulating commercial activity, at the same time constituting a bond of Imperial unity of inestimable value. The proposal requires not only that the connecting transmarine cables should be under Government control, but likewise that the land telegraphs of the several British possessions should be State-owned. The land telegraphs of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Australian States, India, and South Africa are already nationalised, and administered by the Post Office. Canada is the only exception, but the transfer of the Canadian telegraph-lines to the Post Office, together with the laying of a State-owned cable across the Atlantic, is, we are informed, under the consideration of the Government, and it may be assumed that Canada will not long remain the only country within the Empire where the telegraph system is not, in the public interests, controlled by the State. More than a year ago the scheme of world-encircling telegraphs was earnestly considered by this Board, and resolutions were then passed pointing out the necessity for establishing the Pacific cable as the initial link in such a system of State-owned cables.