§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether his attention has been called to the fine of £2 inflicted 912 on William Murray, a carrier, a short time ago, for having carried a written order for goods from Rothesay to Glasgow and received a penny from the vendor of the goods for so doing, the goods being brought back by him from Glasgow to Rothesay on the same day; whether the penny was paid by the receiver, not the sender, of the letter as a kind of reward for the safe conveyance of the goods, and was not in the nature of postage; whether the carrier was admitted to be acting bonâ fide and in the pursuance of an established custom; and, whether he will repay or remit the fine alluded to?
§ MR. HANBURYThe facts are as stated by the hon. Member; but the prosecution was undertaken to stop the very considerable trade in the conveyance of letters carried on by the carriers of Glasgow in direct contravention of the exclusive privileges of the Postmaster General with regard to letters. The Postmaster General had previously called the attention of the Glasgow carriers to their illegal action, but without effect, and he had, therefore, no alternative but to take this course; and in the circumstances he does not propose to repay the fine.