§ MR. WALTER HAZELL (Leicester)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that the rates for parcel post in some great Continental countries are much lower than in the United Kingdom, that in some cases they are not above one-third of the charges here; and whether, having regard to the public convenience, and the necessity for facilitating the traffic in small farm produce, and of the need for increased employment for a large number of persons, he will consider the advisability of decreasing the present scale of parcel post charges?
§ MR. ARNOLD MORLEYThe minimum charge for parcels in this country is much lower than the minimum rate in nearly every other country, but as the rates abroad rise by kilogrammes, whereas they rise here by pounds, heavier parcels are carried more cheaply abroad than here. In two or three instances, foreign rates may be found which, in the case of the heavier parcels, are not above one-third of the rates in this country. The late Government considered the question of introducing a lower scale of charges, chiefly with the view of facilitating the, traffic in agricultural produce, but they did not take any steps in this direction. I should myself be indisposed to establish preferential rates, and the time does not appear to me to have come for a general reduction of the tariff. The chief difficulty in the way of a reduction in this country lies in the large payments which the Post Office is compelled to make to 42 the Railway Companies under the Agreement made in 1884, which does not expire for several years.