§ MR. CRAIG (Newcastle-upon-Tyne)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Board of Customs, by their Order of 16th April, 1892, directed that certain examining officers—who, on the 9th March, 1892, asked the Board of Customs to 186 transmit to the Lords of the Treasury certain Memorials addressed to their Lordships—
be informed that they cannot comply with their request, that the Memorials may be forwarded by the Board to the Treasury, and they cannot allow any appeal to the Treasury";whether the officers, by forwarding their Memorials direct to their Lordships, accompanied by a copy of the Board's refusal, are correctly interpreting the views of the Treasury, as shown in Treasury Minute, dated 26th February, 1866; and, whether the Memorials will be returned to the officers by the Board of Customs for transmission to the Treasury by the memorialists?
§ *MR. GOSCHENThe facts stated in the first paragraph are correct. The Board of Customs refused to forward the Memorials in question to the Treasury, since they regarded them as appealing against a decision which had been arrived at after the most exhaustive investigation by a Departmental Committee of Inquiry. It is open to the officials in question to forward their Memorials direct to the Treasury; but, as the Minute of 1866 states, it will rest with my Lords to consider whether the communication was one which should be addressed to them. The Board of Customs will have no objection to copies of the Memorial being given to the memorialists.