§ MR. M'MAHONasked the Postmaster General, What is the object of the Post Office Regulation that
All publications registered for transmission abroad must be posted within eight days from the date of publication, including that day; and any newspaper posted more than eight days after the date of publication, as well as any unregistered publication, must be prepaid at the book rates of postage:and, what is the average annual number of newspapers and publications infringing the above regulation, which are consequently lost both to the senders and addressees, and what becomes of them?
§ MR. MONSELLThe object, Sir, of the Regulation is to prevent the posting of large masses of newspapers just before the despatch of a mail, which would obviously cause great inconvenience to the Post Office. In order, however, to provide for the transmission of newspapers more than eight days old, they may be posted at the book-rate of postage. The number of newspapers more than eight days old and of unregistered publications posted during the year 1872 was about 118,000, of which about 11,800, or a tenth part, were returned to the senders; the remainder being disposed of, after a short detention, as waste paper. The number of such newspapers is, owing to the measures adopted by the Department, continually diminishing.