The Committee appointed by Government to consider the' subject of
the Channel Tunnel have presented their report. They are almost all scientific soldiers of mark, the president being Major-General Sir A. Alison, and their verdict is, on the whole, hostile. They state that it is necessary that the English end of the Tunnel should be commanded by the advanced works of a fortress, which will cost £700,000. "There should be means of closing the tunnel by a portcullis, and also of dis- charging irrespirable gases into it. There should be power to produce a temporary demolition of the laud portion of the tunnel, by means of mining. There should be arrangements for a temporary flooding of the tunnel by sluices. There should be arrangements for a permanent flooding of the tunnel by mines,. which should open a direct communication between the bottom of the sea and the tunnel." All thege means should be con- trolled from a distance, and when they are all ready, "The. Committee conclude by recording their opinion that it would be presumptuous to place absolute reliance upon even the most comprehensive and complete arrangements which can be devised, with a view of rendering the tunnel absolutely useless to an enemy in every imaginable contingency.' " If, then, it is im- possible to be certain of closing the Tunnel, the Tunnel must be an additional source of danger, and, n fortiori, of recurrent panics. Have we not enough of such sources already P
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