§ MR. BOLAND (Kerry, S.)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he is 1289 aware that, on the 12th instant, three gentlemen called at the post office, Curragh Camp, to open a joint account in the savings banks, but the clerks refused to accept the forms tendered on the ground that the were signed in Irish; can he say why this exception is made in the case of a savings bank account, seeing that postal orders are cashed although signed in Irish.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONThe chief safeguard against fraudulent withdrawals from savings bank accounts is afforded by the comparison of signatures; and as an account may be operated upon at any of 14,600 post offices in the United Kingdom, it is essential, if this safeguard is to possess any value, that the signatures should be written in characters understood by the post office staff generally.