§ MR. DAVITT (Mayo, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the case of a little girl, six years old, daughter of Mr. John Russ, of East Ham, who disappeared after leaving school on Sunday last; is it a fact that the police of the district 628 were communicated with at once, but took no steps to help to trace the child until 26 hours afterwards; whether, if this statement is correct, he will order a more prompt attention on the part of the police in future cases of this kind; and whether any special effort has been made by the authorities during the past few days to discover the fate of this child?
§ MR. COLLINGSIt is not a fact that the police took no steps to trace the child until 26 hours after being communicated with. A description was telegraphed to surrounding stations and telephoned to the Essex constabulary immediately it was received from the child's father. The matter was dealt with most promptly, and the most strenuous efforts have been, and are being, made to discover the missing child.