§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask the Postmaster-General what is the registration fee for a newspaper which enables it to be transmitted for a halfpenny instead of at book-post rates; how much revenue is obtained per annum from these registration fees; and whether he has any figures showing what is the heaviest newspaper that has been carried for a halfpenny, and what charge would have been made at the book-post rate.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The fee for the registration of a newspaper 2314 for transmission by the inland newspaper post is 5s. a year; and the amount of revenue derived from this source during the year ended 31st March, 1908, was £724. The heaviest newspaper recorded as having been carried for a halfpenny weighed just over 3 lb. 6 oz. The ordinary postage on this publication would have been 1s. 2d. by letter post, or 6d. by parcel post. My hon. friend is no doubt aware that the rate for newspapers is fixed by statute, and is not one over which the Postmaster-General has any control.