asked the Postmaster-General why a Press message of 564 words regarding the torpedoing of the Cunard liner "Andania," handed in at Belfast General Post Office at 10.10 a.m. on Mon- day, 28th January last, by the Belfast correspondent of the London "Evening News," was not delivered to that newspaper until after 3 p.m. on the same day; was the message held up by the Belfast Postal Telegraph Department for fully two hours before being punched; is it the practice of the postal telegraph authorities or Press Bureau to now give precedence to messages sent by the Press Association correspondents to those dispatched by special contributors; and, if so, having regard to the fair treatment of the latter, will he say why a Press Association representative should hold an important position in the office of the Press Bureau in London?

The telegram in question was delayed on account of the heavy pressure of telegraph business at Belfast and the faulty working of the wires to London. It was not held up at Belfast as suggested before being punched. It is not the practice of the postal telegraph authorities to give precedence to messages sent by Press Association correspondents over those sent by special contributors.