§ SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL (Kirkcaldy, &c.)asked the Postmaster General, What is the rate of the present contract for the manufacture of thick and thin halfpenny postcards respectively; and, who has the contract?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)The hon. Member is, no doubt, aware that it rests with the Inland Revenue Office to make arrangements for the manufacture and supply of stamps and postcards. According to the accounts furnished by the contractors, which, after being certified at the Inland Revenue Office, are sent to the Post Office for payment, the rates charged for cards are as follows:—Thin cards, cut, 4s. per 1,000; thin cards, in sheets of 42, 67s. 2d. per ream of 480 sheets; stout cards, cut, 12s. 6 1/6d. per 1,000; stout cards, in sheets of 42, £12 per ream of 480 sheets; stout reply cards, 27s. per 1,000; thin reply cards, 8s. 6d. per 1,000; foreign postcards, 7s. per 1,000; foreign reply cards, 14s. per 1,000. These rates are subject to a discount of 10 per cent. The contractors are Messrs. De la Rue and Co., of Bunhill Row.
§ SIR GEORGE CAMPBELLasked, whether the charge to the public of 1d. per dozen for thin, and 2d. per dozen for stout cards, was not enormously in excess of the rate at which the cards were obtained?
§ MR. RAIKESsaid, it did not appear to him to be an extraordinary profit over and above the profit of the contractors.