§ EARL FORTESCUEasked, Whether Her Majesty's Government had made any arrangements for giving officers of the Metropolitan Police authority, on their responsibility, to order the telegraphists at postal telegraphic offices to clear the line at once for urgent messages to Scotland Yard, as recommended by the Committee of Inquiry into the Metropolitan disturbances on the 8th of February last?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Lord WOLVERTON)In conjunction with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, I arranged some weeks ago for the provision of direct wires from the Central Telegraph Office into Scotland Yard. All the telegraph offices in the Metropolitan district, numbering about 400, have direct communication with the Central Telegraph Office, and by means of the wires to Scotland Yard a message handed in by the police at any one of these 400 offices would secure very prompt transmission to headquarters. Instructions have also been issued authorizing the acceptance of the police messages without prepayment, and every care will be taken that no time is lost in dealing with the messages.
§ House adjourned at Six o'clock, till To-morrow, a quarter past Ten o'clock.