HC Deb 15 March 1895 vol 31 c1150
MR. HENNIKER HEATON

I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he has seen the Bill of the French Government for introducing throughout France and Algeria the system of transmitting money by mandat-carte, or money order postcard, under which the amount sent is brought by the postman to the residence of the payee; and, in particular, whether he has observed the Ministerial statements in the preface of the Bill, that the system does away with the delays, inconvenience, and danger of fraud incident to the old system, and that it is certain to result in a large increase of postal revenue; whether he is aware that the mandat-carte system has led to a great and profitable development of money order business in Germany, Switzerland, and other countries; and whether he will consider the question of introducing it in the United Kingdom, and for the exchange of remittances with other countries?

MR. ARNOLD MORLEY

The subject is one to which I have given considerable attention, and I have caused careful investigation to be made of the system in force on the Continent, and of the various conditions peculiar to the postal services of those countries in which the system prevails. On consideration of the information thus obtained, I am not prepared to introduce the system at the present time; but I shall, of course, watch with interest the experiments which are being made in France and other countries.