§ MR. HAROLD COX (Preston)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the total sum paid by the taxpayers of the United Kingdom for the conveyance of local correspondence between the various West Indian islands amounts to £22,250 a year; to what Vote is that sum charged; and 1410 whether the taxpayers of the West Indian islands make any contribution towards the cost of conveying local correspondence between different parts of the United Kingdom.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe amount mentioned by the hon. Member, which is made up as stated in the Answer I gave him to his Question of the 17th instant† and which is charged to the Colonial Office Vote, is paid for the conveyance within the West Indies, not of local correspondence only, but also of correspondence sent between the Colonies served and the United Kingdom, Canada, and other places. The subsidy to the Canadian contract is not for postal purposes only or mainly.