§ MR. HADFIELDsaid, he would beg to ask the Postmaster General, Whether it is intended by Government to afford facilities for communicating with India and the Colonies by post and telegraph, to cheapen postage, and to increase the speed and accuracy of telegraphic messages; and also, as far as practicable, to give to Her Majesty's subjects at home and in India and the Colonies the advantages conferred on merchants and others engaged in transactions with the people of America; and, if it be so intended, when the desired improvements may be expected to be made?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON, in reply, said, the circumstances under which the postal communications between this country and India and America were conducted were very widely different. In the case of America there were several lines of communication, and a certain amount of competition existed. It was therefore possible to get the service done for a comparatively moderate payment. In the case of the communication with India there was practically no competition whatever; the whole ser- 170 vice was in the hands of a large company, whose receipts from other sources were not very large, and to whom it was necessary, therefore, to give a very large subsidy, which, considerably exceeded the amount derived from postages, even at the enhanced rates. There were other circumstances which also rendered the two cases very different. In the case of America, a great portion of the correspondence passed between persons belonging to the poorer classes, and there was every reason to hope that a reduction in the rates would be followed by a very considerable increase in the quantity of letters sent. In the case of India, on the other hand, there was no reason whatever to anticipate any large increase in the letters sent would follow from a reduction of the postage rates which existed two years ago, or even from a still lower scale. A great part of the correspondence with India was commercial, and the rates now charged, though high, could not be deemed excessive when the service performed was considered. He could not, therefore, hold out the prospect of any reduction of the postal rates between this country and India and the Colonies served by the Peninsular and Oriental route. As to the part of the hon. Member's Question which related to telegraphic communication, the House was probably aware that the rates for telegraphic messages were fixed by the companies to whom the lines between this country and India belonged, and the Government had no control over those rates nor over the management of the lines. They were, however, in communication with some of the companies, and would do their best to urge them to give the public the advantage of every facility connected with the rapid and accurate transmission of telegraphic messages.