§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)asked the Postmaster General whether he can give the date on which he decided that the reduced rate of postage by the long-sea route to Australia should commence on the 1st of January, 1889; and why the announcement of this reduction in postal rates was not included in the "Postal Guide" for the present quarter?
§ *SIR HERBERT MAXWELLIn the absence of my right hon. Friend the Postmaster General, I have to state that the rates of postage are fixed under the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, the instrument being a warrant signed by two of their Lordships. The warrant fixing the postage on letters sent to Australia by the long sea route is dated the 17th of December, 1888; and the House will readily understand that this was too late to admit of the new rates being embodied in the Tables of Rates published in the Post Office Guide issued nominally on the 1st of January, 1889, but, of course, passed for the Press considerably before that date.