§ MR. FRASER-MACKINTOSHI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he would state generally the data upon which the Department has come to the conclusion that a mid-day service, by steamer, of the mails from Inverness to Fort Augustus would, for the months of August and September, involve a loss to the Post Office of £250; and, if he would give the figures justifying the statement of the Department that the cost of the existing service is considerably in excess of the revenue derived from the correspondence?
§ * MR. RAIKESThe cost of maintaining the present Postal Service between Inverness and Fort Augustus and the neighbourhood is about £767 a year, as compared with an available revenue of about £525 a year, so that there is already a loss of about £242 a year. If the desired service from Inverness at mid-day during August and September were afforded, it would be necessary to make an additional payment of £200 to the proprietors of the steamer, and the Department itself would incur a further expenditure of about £50 a year. The loss would thus be augmented by £250 a year, and there would be no saviags to set against it.