§ MR. S. HERBERT (Croydon)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that letters posted in London for Croydon after 4 p.m., and letters arriving in London from the Provinces and abroad (also addressed to Croydon) after 4 p.m., are not delivered in Croydon until the following morning; and whether he will arrange that in future a mail bag shall be sent by train after 6 p.m., so that letters can be delivered in Croydon from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., as is done at Wimbledon, Bromley, and elsewhere?
§ MR. BARROW (Southwark, Bermondsey)Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that Croydon is a borough containing at least 105,000 inhabitants, a largo number of whom are City, business, and professional men?
§ MR. A. MORLEYI believe that that is so. It is not practicable to make a complete despatch to Croydon, for delivery the same evening, of all letters posted in London later than 4 p.m., without delaying the last delivery at Croydon until an unreasonably late hour. The town authorities having been consulted whether they would prefer the present last delivery (which commences at 6.30 p.m.) being postponed to a later hour in order to include a portion of the letters posted after 4 p.m. in London, have declined to entertain the proposal, as it would delay considerably more letters than would be accelerated. It is further considered by them that unless the whole of the letters posted in London up to 6 p.m. could be included in a later evening delivery the expense of such a delivery would be largely thrown away, and they state that the inhabitants generally are well content with the existing number of postal deliveries at Croydon. The circumstances at Wimbledon are different, as it is in the London Postal District, and the evening despatch to Bromley is not a complete one.