HC Deb 03 May 1869 vol 196 cc13-4
MR. BAINES

said, he would beg to ask the Postmaster General, Whether he could accommodate tradesmen and the working classes by reducing the charge for Money Orders to one penny for each Order below twenty shillings; two pence from twenty shillings to forty shillings; threepence from forty shillings to sixty shillings; or some similar proportion between the amount of the remittance and the cost of the Order?

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON

, in reply, said, he was aware that a reduction of the commission charged on small orders would be a great convenience to a large portion of the public; but the difficulty in the way of such reduction was that, although the whole Money Order system would still be remunerative, the smaller orders would be issued at a loss. He, therefore, doubted whether the department should undertake a reduction entailing a positive loss; but he would look further into the matter, and if the reduction could be made without considerable sacrifice to the Revenue he would endeavour to make it.