§ MR. TREVELYAN (Yorkshire, W.R., Elland)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that there is no heading in the published accounts of the London and North Western Railway under which the item appears of a subscription of £200 to the London Municipal Society; and whether he will use the powers and influence of his Department to enforce a full publication of all accounts so as to prevent the possibility of the concealment by the directors of such expenditure.
§ MR. KEARLEYI notice that in the railway company's accounts their subscription is not entered separately; whether it should have been so shown would seem to be a matter for the auditors to whom the accounts were submitted. The question of alterations in the form of the accounts to be rendered by railway companies is at the present moment under the consideration of a Departmental Committee.
§ MR. CROOKS (Woolwich)Will this money be paid out of dividends or capital account?
§ MR. FENWICK (Northumberland, Wansbeck)May I ask the Prime Minister whether he is aware that large sums of money were pooled by other companies and expended for the purpose of the recent County Council election in order to avoid the connection of agency as between those spending the money and the respective candidates, and whether, in consequence of such action, he does not contemplate legislation to tighten up the Corrupt Practices Act?
§ SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANI am not aware of any such act as my hon. friend refers to, but I quite agree that the Corrupt Practices Act wants some renewal and revision.