Lords of Appeal.
asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he can state what Lords of Appeal have acted as arbitrators in cases of dispute during the last three years; in how many appeals have they so acted; and can he give the names of the cases for reference?
I fear I have no information with regard to the points raised by the hon. Member.
asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is his Department that is responsible for the terms of the patents, granted to Lords of Appeal on appointment to their offices; and, if so, will he say whether work other than judgments in arbitration cases is permissable under these patents?
The answer is in the negative.
East Africa (Undeveloped Farms).
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government of British East Africa have received a resolution from the Uasin Gishu Farmers' Association calling attention to the number of unoccupied and undeveloped valuable farms, and asking the Government to insist on their immediate occupation and development; and what action the Government propose to take in. this and other cases to prevent land being held up for speculative purposes?
I have had no intimation from the Government of British East Africa that the resolution in question has been received. I am considering, in consultation with Sir Percy Girouard, what steps can be taken to prevent land being held up for speculative purposes.
"Options and Futures."
asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he is aware that since 1875 thousands of failures have occurred amongst Home and Foreign speculators, operating on the stock, produce, metal, wheat, cotton, sugar, and other exchanges through purely international gambling bull and bear operations in non-existing quantities; whether he proposes to take any action in the matter; and (2) whether he has any information showing that about 90 per cent. of the failures caused by gambling in options and futures, even in the case of fraud or insolvency, has never been made public, but have been privately compromised with the object of preventing exposure; whether this has been done in contravention of the rules of the exchanges; whether he will cause inquiries to be made on these points with the object of safeguarding the vested interests of bonâ fide traders, legitimate speculators, and in- vestors, as well as the masses, from the losses caused by failures or gambling speculations in corners and other international bull and bear operations of various nationalities on British Exchanges?
I have no doubt that a considerable number of failures are to be attributed to operations of the kind to which my hon. Friend refers, and that in other cases compositions may have been arranged privately; but as regards the attitude of His Majesty's Government towards the whole matter, I fear I can add nothing to the answer given to my hon. Friend on the 21st. May.
ADDITIONAL CABLES (BALHAM).
asked the Postmaster-General whether the telephonic cables serving the neighbourhood of Balham are insufficient to cope with the demand for the installation of telephones; and, if so, whether he will take steps to lay the necessary new cables in order to sheet that demand?
The wires in the existing cables have nearly all been brought into use, but steps are being taken to provide additional cables as quickly as possible.
TELEPHONES FOR LIFE-SAVING.
asked the Postmaster-General, whether, in cases where local licensing authorities have insisted on direct telephonic communication being established between places of amusement and fire-stations for life-saving purposes in the event of fire only, he will remit the royalty payable to the Post Office, seeing that it is really a tax on the better protection of life?
As the Post Office provides wires of this description on the usual rental terms, the circumstances are not such as to justify any general remission of royalty when the wires are provided by private contractors. But I am willing to consider any particular case on its merits with a view to the reduction of the royalty if the conditions are exceptional.