§ MR. KIRKasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether any decision has been come to by the Treasury respecting the application to the Customs Department of the recommendations of the Playfair Commission; and, whether it is correct that Memorials from the out-ports of the United Kingdom on this subject, addressed to the Lords of the Treasury, had been retained in the hands of the Board of Customs from the 15th December 1877 to the 6th February 1878?
§ COLONEL STANLEY, who answered the Question, said, that no decision had as yet been arrived at with regard to the application to the Customs Department of the recommendations of the Playfair Commission. The subject was one of considerable importance, and it would require a considerable amount of care in its investigation. It was a fact, he understood, that Memorials from out-ports had remained in the hands of the Board of Customs for some considerable time. That had arisen partly from the knowledge which the Board already possessed of the views of the Lords of the Treasury and partly from the indisposition of the Board to forward the Memorials during the absence from illness of their Chairman.