MR. EVANSsaid, he wished to call the attention of the House to the system of Letter Insurance which exists in Prussia, and to ask whether a similar system might not with advantage be introduced into this country? When persons wished to send notes, coins, jewels, or other valuable articles through the Prussian post, they attended at the office, exhibited the articles in question, declared their value, and paid a small fee. If after that they happened to be lost the owner was reimbursed, except, indeed, the loss had been occasioned by what, in the legal language of this country, was termed "the act of God." The extreme cheapness of this insurance in Prussia might be judged of from the fact that when the value was under £7 10s., and the distance under fifty miles, the fee was only a halfpenny; and a letter enclosing £150 in bank notes might be insured for sixpence.
§ MR. LAINGsaid, the attention of the Post Office authorities had never yet been called to the subject—a fact which showed that with the facilities afforded the public 1302 by our system of money orders and registered letters, no urgent need was felt to exist for anything like what the hon. Gentleman had described. If the hon. Gentleman, however, would call on Mr. Rowland Hill and convince him of the desirability of introducing it, the subject should receive the best attention of the Government.