CHANNEL TUNNEL.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18153, 16 August 1924, Page 5

CHANNEL TUNNEL.

LIKELY TO BE BUILT.. SCHEME TO COST £29,000,000 (SBOH OTJE OWN CORHESPOXD"SST.) LONDON, July 2.

To the deputation which waited upon him to urge upon the Government the desirableness of sanctioning the construction of the Channel Tunnel, the Prime Minister gave what may be described as a sympathetic reply. He told the deputation of the House of Commons Tunnel Committee, representing all parties and backed by 400 M.P.'s, that he had summoned a special meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence for an early date to consider ihe matter.

Everyone must admit, he said, that circumstances had changed very much in reference to questions of strategy within the last few years. That was one of the considerations which were essential to a settlement of this question when deciding whether the project was a good or a bad project. For instance, the development of air-power was a factor whicTi would now have to be taken into consideration. It was al3o essential that the very best feeling should bo maintained between France and ourselves, so that in deciding the question of the Tunnel they would have to take into account its effect, direct or Indirect, in promoting harmonious relations between Franco and.ourselves. The whole question would have to be very carefully considered from a practical and detailed point of view. He proposed to take : the chair at the special sitting of the Comprittee ctf Imperial Defence in order to show what great importance the Government attached to the subject. He asked the Ministers concerned, the Service Ministers, to be present, so that they might hear what he had to say. He has also asked all the ex-Premiers who had sat on the Committee of Imperial Defence and who had views on the subject, specially to .attend the meetirev That- was for two' reasons: He wished to lift this inert-ion."'n's hnd been done so far verv successfully, out of na»*tv politics. He, ilso wished to eet the best responsibly ndvice from those who cmld sreak with erea-t authority on. the subieot. All the ex-Premiers had accepted the invitation. , The memorandum wh'oh was submitted' to the Prime Minister gives 1 brief history-of the Chnniel Tunnp l •-roiVt and a'cteserrntinn of the exneri- - .aental operations carried out from time to time. Should the scheme be decided' upon, .one estimate given in ihe memorandum is that work would >e provided for 24,000 men—l2,ooo in this country and 12,000 in France—or nearly five years. On the question if cost the memorandum states:

"Complete unanimity has existed 'letween the British and French, enineers entrusted with responsibility : n .carrying out the work concerning all the. details of construction, and thev are equally agreed both as to the duration of the. operations and as to the total expenditure involved. Reek--ining from the Tunnel mouth in Eng"imi to the Tunnel mouth in France, including all necessarv out'ay in respect of (1) the two interchange ,sta tions; (2) the drainage headings; and '*) iw''d"r<til onui"men*. Sir P. Temn?st and his French colleagues came to the conclusion that the scheme can. in its ert. : r"tv ho roTrmMed at a total cost of £9O <vy> W) This amount exceed'? r>v 3 000 000 eptim-te prenarod in 191'. the heins en tirely due to the enhanced cost of labour and the large increase in the price of every kind of material required for nurposes of construction on shore as also under sea."

Raising the Capital. In regard to raising the necessary capital, the memorandum declares that no difficulty need be anticipated n the T>ojnt. assuming that definite s'vroort is given to the scheme by the British Government. At fhe outset, subscriptions would' be invited for a small portion only of the sum mentioned.* and the amount on either of the Channel will be limited to ° I.2*o.nnn. A rl''finite th-tf the monev wou'd be forthcoming has l>een received from Baron Emile B. -i iT7i.inn<TPr *hn Chnirm.in of the Channel Tunnel Comnanv. who stated: "1 do not believe that, if we had permission to build the tunnel, we should find any difficulty between the Southern Hallway and other interested parties in raising the £1,250,000 required foi" the pilot and drainage tunnels, and there is not the slightest shadow of a doubt that the Northern Railway of France would put up the money necessary for building their portion. Once* the nilot and drainage tunnels had been driven, find iho absolute certainty of the practicability of th" scheme demonstrated, the of the T»rld\ from America to Chinn. , would bconH.too ea<rer ti subsmh" | shares for the trnTic tunnels." '