§ SIR H. COTTON (Nottingham, E.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the frequency of mistakes made in code telegrams, and to the fact that a majority of these do not probably come under his official notice owing to the loss of time involved in addressing such complaints to local postmasters; whether he is aware of the probability of any telegram being misread so long as the present method of transcribing messages in pencil is continued; and whether he is prepared to consider the question of directing all telegrams in future to be typewritten.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) I do not think such mistakes are frequent, having regard to the great number of telegrams transmitted. The question of typewritten telegrams is engaging my attention. Experiments have been made, but the results have not been altogether satisfactory. I believe that as a rule telegrams are clearly and legibly written, and I have had but little complaint on the subject.