§ Mr. Haweswished to know from the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it were his intention to renew the committee on the subject of the Post-office; and whether certain papers ordered by the committee would be laid on the Table of the House? Also, whether a paragraph which he had seen in the papers, and which stated that the whole of the revenue derived from the Post-office was to be applied to carry out certain improvements in that department, was correct?
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequersaid, he did not see any necessity for moving for a renewal of the Post-office committee. He had no objection to lay any returns moved for by the committee, as far as it was possible, on the Table of the House. He had seen in the papers the letters referred to, but, he believed, that it was not in his power to produce them. They were principally letters addressed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to Mr. Hill, and by that gentleman to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Some of them were private communications, and were consequently papers of which, in many instances, copies would riot be kept, and therefore, as regarded himself, it would be very difficult to obtain them, and with reference to his predecessor, he could not, of course, undertake to produce the correspondence of that right hon. Gentleman. With re- 231 spect to any returns relating to the Post-office, there could be no difficulty whatever in getting all the information desired. As to the paragraph referred to, stating that he was about to give up the surplus revenue to carry on improvements in the Post-office, he could only say, that he did not know the source from which it emanated—certainly not from himself.