§ MR.CRAWFORDsaid, he would beg to ask the Postmaster General, in the absence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether the sum of £100,000, entered as a receipt on account of "Telegraphs" in the published statement of Revenue for the quarter ended 31st March, was in respect of messages only, or included money received from any other source; also that he will state the number of messages forwarded for the public by the Department down to the 31st March, and the 1173 amount of money received and receivable on account thereof?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, in reply, that the sum of £100,000, entered as a receipt on account of "Telegraphs" in the published statement of Revenue for the quarter ended the 31st March, was made up of sums received in payment for messages, and for the proceeds of postage stamps sold on account of such messages, and did not include the sum due to the Revenue on account of the Press messages or the rents of private wires. The total number of messages forwarded by the Department up to the 31st March was 1,160,000, inclusive of messages received by the Department for transmission abroad; but exclusive of the messages received from abroad for distribution by the Post Office.