Sir J. D. REESasked the First Commissioner of Works whether it is decided, as a matter of public policy, to close the Green Park at nine p.m. Greenwich time in summer; whether Lord Harcourt's Order of May, 1916, was that this park, among others, shall remain open an hour a day longer from 21st May to 30th September; whether the police returns of convictions for offences committed in Hyde Park and Green Park, respectively, are such as to justify differential treatment; and whether he will communicate the figures in this behalf for dates subsequent to 1905, up till which the records are altogether in favour of the Green Park?
§ Sir A. MONDThe answer to the first question is in the affirmative, and accounts for my decision to cancel that part of my predecessor's Order which related to the Green Park. The police returns do not afford a true index to the conditions which obtain in any public place, and in view of the pressure upon the time of the officers of my Department, I should not feel justified in calling for figures which would have no real value.