§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONI beg to ask the Postmaster General will he explain on what grounds the clerks in the Telegraphic Department of the Post Office are forbidden to resort to a Law List, Medical Register, or List, of Stockbrokers, or even to a Directory, and the messengers to endeavour in other ways to ascertain the correct address of the addressee of a telegram costing 6d. (which is often urgent and written in a hurry), and appear to be ready on account of a trivial error not to deliver it, even after being told the correct address, while the Postal Department of the Post Office is always ready to find out the addressee of a wrongfully or insufficiently addressed penny letter?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. A. MORLEY,) Nottingham, E.As telegrams are urgent communications, it is the universal rule throughout the Telegraph Union to require that the address should contain all the particulars necessary to insure delivery, so that no delay may be incurred in inquiries or references to Directories and other books. Although this is the rule, the Department does take some trouble to deliver telegrams the addresses of which appear to be defective by accident and not by design; but it would be contrary to the interest of the public that it should allow its officers' time to be spent in procuring the delivery of telegrams which are systematically sent with insufficient addresses. Not only would the telegrams in question be delayed, but telegrams bearing sufficient addresses would also be delayed, and the whole character of the Service would be altered for the worse. The case of telegrams is not analogous to that of letters.