§ MR. FORWOODasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the Post Office have seriously delayed the delivery of telegrams, when addressed in the same manner as letters, which are delivered in course, on the ground that the telegrams were insufficiently addressed; whether parties complaining of the delay in, and, in some cases, non-delivery of telegrams addressed in a similar manner to letters, have been informed that "a direction which may be sufficient for a letter is not sufficient for a telegram;" and, whether Her Majesty's Postmaster General approves of this action on the part of the Post Office officials; and, if so, that the House may be informed of the additional particulars required to be given on the address of a telegram beyond what are required to be stated on the address of a letter?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. H. H. FOWLER), in reply, said, that it had been discovered at the Post Office that an address which might be sufficient for a letter might be insufficient for a telegram. A letter insufficiently addressed might pass into the hands of a postman who had others to deliver to the same person; whereas a telegram must be delivered by a messenger, who, perhaps, had never heard the name of the person before to whom it was addressed. What was required was an address which should enable the messenger to deliver the telegram, even without the name of the person to whom it was sent. If the hon. Member would furnish him with the particulars of grievance he would see that the matter should be investigated.