§ SIR JAMES WHITEHEAD (Leicester)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the approximate number of complaints which have reached the Board of Trade since the 1st January in regard to treatment of traders and to the charges made by the Railway Companies under Section 31 of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888?
§ MR. MUNDELLAUp to, and including, March 17 (irrespective of deputations and verbal complaints) 835 complaints of increases of rates have been communicated by the Board of Trade to the Railway Association; of this number 211 are resolutions in general terms; many of the complaints are made on 489 behalf of a number of complainants. It is impossible to say to how many of these complaints the provisions of the section referred to by the hon. Member can be ultimately held to apply.
§ SIR J. WHITEHEADMay I ask If that number is in excess of previous years?
§ MR. MUNDELLACertainly, it is an unprecedented number.