MR. NANNETT () Dublin, College GreenTo ask the Postmaster General whether the rule providing that the 210 despatch of public telegrams shall be strictly inturn in accordance with the time at which they are handed in by the public has been rescinded or amended; whether the further instructions contained in Post Office Circular 293, dated 25th September, 1900, have also been rescinded; and, if not, will he explain why the telegraph superintendent at the Belfast Office has instructed the assistant superintendents to inform the staff that the telegrams are not to be sent in code turn; and will he have instructions given the Belfast staff for their guidance in the matter.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) The rule providing that the despatch of telegrams shall be strictly in accordance with the time at which they are handed in has been neither rescinded nor amended, nor has the caution against favour and priority given in the Post Office Circular of the 25th September, 1900, been withdrawn. I cannot find that any instructions to the contrary have been given at Belfast or elsewhere.