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20 commanding the exit, so that the use of the Tunnel in every imaginable contingency may be, beyond doubt, denied to an enemy. The Committee were further informed that in their recommendations they should not be influenced by considerations of cost, from recommending any particular appliances, as the first charge and maintenance of all necessary works would have to be defrayed by the owners of the Tunnel." (See letter from the War Office to Sir A. Alison, p. 241, and Precis, p. XV.)

"Sir Archibald Alison's Committee met on the 27th February, 1882, and on the following day the composition of the Committee was announced in the House of Commons by Mr. Childers (Secretary of State for War at the commencement of the present Government in 1880), who stated that they had not been appointed to consider the Channel Tunnel scheme generally, but had received the specific instructions mentioned above."

"On the 28th April, in reply to a question in the House of Commons, Mr. Chamberlain stated ' that he had given most explicit directions to the South-Eastern Railway Company that the works were not to proceed below the level of low-water'; and on the 1st May he announced that 'the Government had come to the conclusion that it was desirable that what is called the experimental boring of the Channel Tunnel should be stopped, and that further expenses should, as far as possible, be avoided, until Parliament has come to a decision whether the Tunnel is to be made or not'."

"The works referred to (just above) were being carried on under the authority of the South Eastern Railway Act, 1881. This Act gave the Company power to acquire compulsory, for experimental borings and other works in connection with the construction of a Channel Tunnel, certain lands, including the beach and foreshore, in the neighbourhood of Dover. The Act provided that if the construction of a Tunnel should be eventually authorised by Parliament, the Company should accept such conditions as might be imposed by the orders of Her Majesty in Council."

"Sir Archibald Alison's Committee completed their inquiries on the 12th May, 1882. The following are the main features of their report (as given in the Précis, p. XV.).