§ SIR DUNHAM NORREYSsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether there would be any financial objection to the issue of a new Stamp of the value of one penny which should be available for all purposes, whether for Postage, Receipts, or Drafts, the Post Office receiving credit for a proportion of the future issues of the new Stamp, calculated on the past average issue of the Penny Postage Stamp?
MR. WILSONsaid, the question was carefully considered not many years ago, no doubt it would be a very great convenience to the public to have an uniform penny stamp for all the purposes for which it was used—viz., Postage, Receipts, Notes, and Drafts; but if there were, it was quite obvious that it would be impossible to keep distinct the Post Office accounts, so as to distinguish the progress of what he might call the postal experiment. That was a very strong reason for retaining a distinct stamp, so far as postage was concerned. But as regarded the rest, it was his duty four years ago to consider the subject, and he conceived there was no reason to continue any distinction between the penny stamp used for receipts and drafts; and he introduced a clause in a Bill before Parliament enabling receipt and draft stamps to be used indifferently, so that at present either stamp might be used for either purpose. But, he considered that it would be carrying that arrangement too far to extend it to postage stamps.