§ MR. EWARTasked the Postmaster General, Whether he is able to state to the House any proposal which he may have to make for the more rapid carriage of the Mails to Belfast and the North of Ireland, by way of Stranraer and Larne; whether he has been able to give the short sea route the favourable consideration anticipated from his replies last year; and, whether he has observed the inevitable risk to the Mail communications with Ireland which results from possessing only one route, liable to delay, such as has been shown to be probable from the accident to the Mail steamer, Leinster?
§ MR. GRAYasked the Postmaster General, Whether, before the new time table for the Irish Mail Service between London and Holyhead is finally settled, he will state to the House whether it will secure the maximum practicable acceleration by providing for an earlier start of the night mail from Euston, as proposed in his letter of last year to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce?
§ MR. MOOREasked the Postmaster General, Whether, considering the great interest felt in the acceleration of the Irish Mail Service, he will give the House the earliest possible information 171 as to the proposed time table, and allow Members an opportunity of discussing it before it is finally approved?
§ MR. FAWCETTAs the three Questions standing in the names of the hon. Members for Belfast, Carlow County, and Clonmel all refer to the subject of the Irish mail service, I think it will be convenient if I answer thorn together. It is the case, as stated by the hon. Member for Carlow (Mr. Gray), that it was at one time contemplated, as stated in the letter written to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce in January, 1883, that the Irish night mail train should leave London at an earlier hour—namely, 8 o'clock, instead of 8.25; but on examining the subject more closely it was found that much inconvenience would result from this arrangement. In the first place it would render necessary an earlier closing of the post for Irish letters posted with a late fee than for any other letters. This want of uniformity would, I think, be inconvenient. Moreover, the earlier departure of the Irish night mail would disarrange the time of posting of Irish letters in many of the Provincial towns, these letters being taken by cross trains to fall into the Irish mail service. In these circumstances it is proposed that commencing on the 1st of July the mail trains should leave London and Dublin at the same time as they now do, but that they shall arrive in London and Dublin half - an - hour earlier. This earlier arrival of the mail from Holyhead will be very important, because it will enable Irish letters to be delivered earlier in London; and it will secure with greater certainty than now that the Irish letters will be in time for the Continental mail and some of the English country mails. The earlier arrival of letters in Dublin will also be very important as having a bearing upon the accelerated delivery of letters through the Provincial towns of Ireland. This is a question to which I attribute much importance, and will be immediately taken in hand. With regard to the Stranraer and Larne route, I have been asked to receive another deputation, and this I have consented to do.
§ MR. GRAYWill the right hon. Gentleman afford any opportunity of this arrangement being brought before the House, so as to avoid the repetition of the fiasco of last year?
§ MR. FAWCETTI am very anxious to bring the accelerated service into operation as soon as possible. I have no other object in view than to make the best service possible.
§ MR. BIGGARI beg to give Notice that if any alteration proposed in the Larne and Stranraer route involves any increase in the Estimates I shall oppose it.
§ MR. MOOREI beg to give Notice that I shall oppose the Estimate for the Post Office unless we are allowed some opportunity of discussing the time table.
§ MR. GRAYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the decision which he has just announced will involve the delay of every mail service leaving Dublin, and will he be kind enough to inform the House who are the persons who allege that inconvenience would be caused by the earlier posting of letters in London?
§ MR. FAWCETTWell, I do not know any particular person. The practice hitherto in London has been to have a uniform hour of posting, and I think that is a very great convenience. All sorts of mistakes would occur if a person were to take a bundle of letters and find that the Scotch letters were to be posted at 7, and the Welsh letters at 7.40, and the Irish letters at a quarter to 7. Certainly I should not be prepared, unless for very strong reasons, to depart from this principle of uniformity. I do not want to enter into any arguable matter; but I do not understand on what ground the hon. Member alleges that the arrival of the mail in Dublin half-an-hour earlier than now—
§ MR. FAWCETTWell, I did not understand what the hon. Member said.
§ MR. BIGGARDoes the right hon. Gentleman intend to make any arrangement for the earlier starting of the mail trains from Dublin for other parts of Ireland?
§ MR. FAWCETTI explained that the matter of accelerating the letters to Provincial towns, as I have always stated, is far more important than it is to Dublin. Having secured this half-hour's acceleration the letters will arrive half-an-hour earlier. Without giving any promise this gain of half-an-hour will be an important thing to get the letters into the Provincial towns earlier.
§ MR. GRAYI wish to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, before he changed the decision which he indicated that he had come to by a formal letter to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce last year, he consulted any representative Irish body, or, in fact, any persons except officials interested in the Irish mail service; and whether the reasons which he has stated against the earlier starting of the mail train from Euston did not all exist last year in exactly the same strength as they exist now? I wish to explain to the right hon. Gentleman what I meant by "delay." I meant that the delay of half-an-hour from London, which the right hon. Gentleman is now about to sacrifice, will involve that the Irish service from Dublin cannot be started by half-an-hour earlier, which otherwise could be done.
§ MR. FAWCETTI am anxious to correct the misapprehension in the mind of the hon. Member. I never gave a promise that the mail should leave London at 8 o'clock. Knowing that in many quarters there was a strong desire it should leave earlier, I stated I should contemplate it. [Mr. GRAY: No, no.] I refer to the letter; that is the expression I used. I certainly never intended a promise; and on looking into the matter more closely I found, to my great regret, that the arrangement was not possible. I carefully considered various Memorials and the views of the deputations which waited on me on the subject.
§ MR. GRAYI am very sorry to rise again, but I want to ask the right hon. Gentleman this one very simple Question. Whether, before he changed the determination which he had indicated in the formal letter to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, he did or did not consult any Irish representative body, or any of those practically interested in Ireland in this important matter?
§ MR. FAWCETTI had all the advice before me of representative bodies in Ireland. I knew their views they were stated to me, and I consulted persons who were in no way interested. [Mr. GRAY: Hear, hear!] The hon. Member seems to think that I have some motive in arriving at a decision. All I can say is, I took every step and did everything I could to come to a different decision, and I have already stated the reasons 174 why I do not think it would be advisable to alter the present hours of departure from London