26 MARCH 1904, Page 3

During the rest of the week Parliament was chiefly occupied

with the details of Supply, but on Tuesday Lord Stanley made the interesting announcement that the Post Office is in nego- tiation with the National Telephone Company for the purchase of their undertaking, which can be taken over at the end of the year on terms to be settled by arbitration. Lord Stanley, however, favoured an amicable agreement as being cheaper. Whether that will prove so when so astute and capable a business body as the National Telephone Company are dealing with the innocents of a Government Department remains to be seen. No one, of course, wishes to rob the Company of a scintilla of their just rights, but we must also avoid such a bargain as the Government made in the case of the telegraphs.