The additional grant of £600,000 (to be raised by loan)
for the Uganda Railway was discussed in the Commons on Tuesday evening. Lord Cranborne, in moving the Resolution, dealt with the special difficulties which had beset the under- taking,—the importation of labour from India, the number of viaducts, the nature of the country traversed, the rise in the price of coal, and the abnormally bad weather. Still, he frankly admitted that the Government had been over- sanguine in generalising from the cost of the earlier portion of the railway to the cost of the whole, and that mistakes had been made which should not have occurred. Altogether, the cost would amount to £5,500,000, but Lord Cranborne could not undertake to say that there would be no further capital expenditure on the work. He contended, however, that we had got a first-rate railway for our money, and that it compared favourably in cost of structure with those in Natal and Cape Colony. The only solid contribution to the subsequent debate was that of Sir Edward Grey. It was, he said, quite hopeless to look at this matter as a com- mercial speculation. It was simply the inevitable result of our going to Uganda. Eventually the Resolution sanctioning the grant was agreed to in a thin House, the Bill founded on it being read in the House on Thursday.
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