§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that a telegram with reply paid was dispatched to Beyrout on the 17th instant, and no reply received for two days; whether it is a fact, as alleged by the postal officials, that the delay was caused by the Turkish authorities; and, whether the complaint from the father of the boy, whose son was seriously ill at Beyrout and who wished to get information, was represented to the Turkish Government?
§ MR. HANBURYThe father of the boy might have learnt all that it was possible to tell him if he had applied to the Post Office, without the necessity for asking a question about it in the House. After some trouble, a telegram, which is probably the one to which the hon. Member refers, has been traced. It was handed in on the 17th instant, addressed to Beyrout. The answer was 924 delivered early on the morning of the 21st. It is not the fact that the officials of the Post Office alleged that the message had been delayed by the Turkish authorities. All they knew was that there had been no delay so far as the Post Office was concerned. They are not even now aware that there are grounds for a representation to any of the telegraph administrations over whose lines the telegram passed. The addressee himself may have been unable to reply immediately.