§ Mr. BARNSTONasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give such information as they possess or can obtain as to agreements between railway companies in restraint of competition, and in particular, of any pooling agreement between the Great Eastern, the Great Central, and the Great Northern Railway Companies?
§ Mr. S. BUXTONRailway companies are at present under no general obligation to deposit copies of such agreements with the Board of Trade. In the case, however, of an agreement entered into in 1909 for pooling the receipts from certain classes of traffic carried on, the London and North-Western, Midland and Lancashire, and Yorkshire Railways, heads of the agreement were supplied to the board by the companies concerned, and were presented to Parliament (Cd. 4,695). I have no particulars respecting any agreement such as that referred to in the last part of the question.