§ MR. H. D. GREENEI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that telephonic messages between Shrewsbury and places south thereof have to pass through Liverpool or some towns far to the north of Shrewsbury; and whether direct communication by telephone can be provided between Shrewsbury and the city of Birmingham and other towns in the Midland counties in substitution for the present circuitous arrangement.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINCommunication with Shrewsbury over the trunk wire system has recently been improved by the provision of new circuits from Liverpool to Birmingham and other places, but the Postmaster General is also considering the question of providing a more direct route to the Midlands and the south.