§ MR. BENSON (Oxfordshire, Woodstock)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether his attention has been called to a letter by the hon. Member for Canterbury in The Times of yesterday; and whether it is the fact, as alleged in that letter, that the late Mr. Fawcett, as Postmaster General, was opposed to the proposal to allow the public to use private cards of their own as post-cards by putting halfpenny stamps on them?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. A. MORLEY, Nottingham, E.)My attention has been called to the letter referred to. I stated in the House during the discussion of the Post Office Estimates that Mr. Fawcett and every subsequent Postmaster General had been favourable to the proposal that the public should be allowed to use their own cards, with halfpenny stamps attached, as postcards. Mr. Fawcett stated in the House of Commons on the 17th of July, 1882, that he was glad to say that he thought the difficulties in the way of allowing cards to be sent as post-cards with adhesive stamps could be got over, and, from documents I have seen in the Department, I am able to state that he was personally favourable to the proposal. No doubt he and other Postmasters General, in consequence of difficulties and objections for which neither they nor their Department were responsible, have stated, when speaking of the Governments of which they were Members, that they were unable to carry out the change.
§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I think that I have some reason to complain of the hon. Member putting the question down in the way he 418 has, because it is not strictly accurate. I have not alleged anything of the kind. With the permission of the House I will read a letter sent to me by the late Mr. Raikes.
§ MR. BENSONI beg to withdraw any imputation that I may have made upon the hon. Gentleman.
§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONYes; but I must explain it now. The letter I received from Mr. Raikes was as follows:—
§ "August 10th, 1889.
§ "Dear Sir,—I am desired by Mr. Raikes to acknowledge the receipt of your post-card as to the question of permitting the public to affix stamps to their own post-cards, stating that he had given you reason to hope that he would grant permission to do so, and asking when he would be able to make an announcement on the subject. Mr. Raikes thinks that this impression must be due to some misapprehension, and he desires me to call your attention to his answer to your question on that subject of November 20th, 1888, in which he stated that the proposal had been carefully considered by Mr. Fawcett and not deemed expedient. Consideration has been given as promised to the question, but no variation to the existing system has been suggested which could be advantageously adopted. For further answer he desires me to refer you to his replies to questions on this subject put by Mr. Cochrane Baillie in the the House of Commons on June 27th and July 18th, in the former of which he stated that he could not hold out any expectation that it would be possible to adopt the suggestion.
§ "I am, yours faithfully,
§ GEORGE C. HERBERT."
§ In the report in Hansard, in 1888, the Postmaster General said, in reply to a question put by me, that the question of allowing ordinary cards bearing a halfpenny postage stamp to pass as postcards was carefully considered by the late Mr. Fawcett, and that it was not then deemed expedient to sanction such an arrangement. In the following year in another answer, the right hon. Gentleman said there would be the greatest difficulty—
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! I think the hon. Gentleman is travelling rather outside a personal explanation. I do not understand that the allegation of the hon. Member for Woodstock is a very serious one, and the hon. Member is not entitled to go into the whole circumstances.
§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONThen I will ask the Postmaster General whether his predecessor stated that it was 419 impossible to introduce the new Regulation without serious loss?
§ MR. A. MORLEYI believe that it is correct that Mr. Raikes, in the letter of August 10, refers to a statement that he made on July 18, stating that he could not hold out any hope that it would be possible to adopt the proposed alteration. All I have to say is that I am very glad that the present Government have been able to do what Mr. Raikes—not because he was disinclined to do it himself, but on account of the views of the Treasury—said was impossible.