§ MR. FINLAY (Inverness, &c.)asked the Postmaster General, Whether, in view of the great dissatisfaction in Inverness and the North of Scotland generally, with the slow rate at which the London Day Mail is carried from Perth to Wick and Strome Ferry, and of the fact that it now takes about 10 hours more than the London Night Mail to traverse the distance between London and Wick, he is willing to re-consider the possibility of accelerating the London Day Mail north of Perth, in accordance with the Memorials sent in to him from the Northern towns and counties on the subject?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)I am aware that the London Day Mail is carried from Perth to Wick and Strome Ferry by a slower train than that employed for the London Night Mail. But the postal revenue of the district would be altogether inadequate to justify the maintenance of two Mail Trains a-day throughout, running at the speed and under the conditions of the Night Mail Train The payments made for the conveyance of Mails north of Perth are already so considerable that it may become a serious question on the next revision of the contract whether, if more 819 moderate payments cannot be accepted by the Highland Railway Company, the liberal and effective postal service in the districts traversed by that lino may not have to be reduced. I am sorry that I can hold out no expectation of a compliance with the prayer of the Memorials referred to.