§ Sir H. Morris-Jonesasked the Postmaster-General whether he will consider the possibility of reducing the charge for cables to those serving in the Services in India from 5d. per word on similar lines to the inclusive code cables for 2s. 6d. now sent to the Middle East?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonAs I informed the House in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Twickenham (Mr. Keeling) on nth February last, the extension to India of the standard text arrangement for telegrams at a fixed charge of 2s. 6d. suggested by the hon. Member has already been proposed to the Government of India, which, after careful consideration of the special local problems involved, felt unable to adopt it. Quite recently the Government of India were asked to review the question of their participation in the 1239W standard text scheme, but they have replied that the reasons which led them to make their original decision still hold good. The rate of 5d. a word, with no charge for the address, already available for telegrams to and from the Forces in India, is itself a cheap rate, making possible the sending of a message of five words of the sender's choice, and the sender's name, for 2s. 6d.