§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, whether he can see his way to abolish guarantees for local telegraph offices throughout this country, as the liability to give such guarantees seriously hampers the development of sparsely populated country districts?
§ SIR JOHN HIBBERTI cannot hold out any hope of an abolition of the guarantee system, but I would remind my hon. Friend that much has been done of late years to encourage the extension of telegraphs in country districts. Rural sanitary authorities have been empowered to give guarantees for this purpose; the conditions of the guarantee have been very considerably lightened; and the Post Office is constantly making inquiries as to whether the business likely to be done at village post offices will justify the extension of the telegraph without any guarantee at all. The result has been that the number of country telegraph offices is increasing steadily, and at a growing rate In 1890–91 the increase was 275; in 1893–94 it was 673.
§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONI beg to ask the Postmaster General, what is the total number of telegraph offices in London and metropolitan district; whether he is aware that there are 40 telegraph offices in the metropolis within a radius of two miles; and whether he can spare a few of these town offices in order to be in a position to establish more offices in the rural districts, with a view to encourage the people of such districts to remain in them and abstain from flocking into the towns?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. ARNOLD MORLEY,) Nottingham, E.There are about 500 telegraph offices in the metropolitan district, or, in other words, about one office to 10,000 people. Elsewhere there are about 9,150 offices, or one office to 3,600 people. The offices in the metropolis have been established to meet the requirements of the public, and are only maintained if they pay their way. To close any of them would not facilitate the establishment of telegraph offices in rural districts, which, however, are being extended with increasing rapidity year by year, the number of offices added in 1890–91 being 275, and in the three following years 349, 561, and 673.