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standing between the two Governments might be arrived at as speedily as possible, in order to facilitate the granting of the concession for which he had applied.
"To this request the Channel Tunnel Committee was informed that in view of other projects, Lord Granville considered that Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris could not properly be instructed to advocate the interests of anyone in particular (pp. 7, 8).
"Soon after the receipt of the Channel Tunnel Committee's renewed application in August, 1871, the French Government informed the British Ambassador in Paris, that before taking any steps with regard to it, the French Government considered it indispensable to know the opinion of Her Majesty's Government on the principle of the enterprise.
"This despatch was forwarded to Lord Granville in December, 1871, and immediately transmitted to the Board of Trade for consideration.
"The reply of the Board of Trade (December 23, 1871; p. 11) contained a review of the general question of international intercommunication, and pointed out the objections to granting a perpetual monopoly to the promoters of the Tunnel, but stated that in the existing state of the question it was impossible to give very specific suggestions or advice."
From this letter and two others, of July 15, 1873, and December 9, 1874, the Board of Trade were evidently anxious to see some "improvement in the communication between this country and the Continent" (pp. 20, 36). In the letter already quoted of December 23, 1871, mention is made (p. 12) of four different projects for accomplishing this: (1) "A Bridge across the Channel"; (2) "The Submarine Tunnel between Dover and Calais"; (3) "A scheme, which may be called the Steam Ferry Scheme, for making very large additions to the harbours on each side the Channel, so as to enable steamers to be used of 450 feet in length, upon which both passenger and goods trains may be ferried across without change of carriages or trucks"; (4) "A scheme for more moderate extension of the harbours on both sides, so that steamers may be used such as now carry the traffic between Holyhead and Kingstown". Of the first of these
