MR. SULLIVANasked the Postmaster General, If it is true that quite recently the "Registered Letter Bag" between Dublin and London, containing, besides other remittance inclosures, the Dublin bankers' daily letters on their London houses, covering nearly £200,000 in drafts and securities, was lost in transit, having been quite overlooked on board the Mail Packet at Holyhead, where it was subsequently discovered; whether he is aware of the serious uneasiness which this occurrence, and the excuse given for it, have caused amongst the banking houses in Dublin; and, what special steps, if any, he proposes to take to give the bankers of Dublin confidence in the safety of the "Registered Letter Bag" which conveys their remittances to London?
§ LORD JOHN MANNERSSir, on the night of the 16th of November last, the registered letter-bag from Dublin for London was accidentally left behind on board the packet at Holyhead, the night being very dark and a perfect gale of wind blowing at the time. The bag was sent on to London in charge of the guard by the next train, and the hitters in it were delivered about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. A similar irregularity has not been known, at least, within the last 10 years. Nothing is known of the contents of the letters enclosed in this registered letter-bag. Only one complaint was made to the Department respecting it—namely, from the Royal Bank of Ireland; and after the matter was explained to the bank in question, nothing further was heard on the subject; and it is not known that any uneasiness exists among the banking-houses in Dublin in consequence. To prevent a similar occurrence, the responsible officer in the packet post office has been instructed on arrival at Holyhead at once to take the registered letter-bag himself and give it into the hands of the officer in charge of the travelling post office.