§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, (1) whether, at the Postal Union Congress held a Washington, Great Britain proposed or announced her intention to reduce the postage to all parts of the world (Foreign and Colonial) from 2½d. to 2d. per letter (2) whether he is aware that about 53,000,000 letters are dispatched annually to Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australasia, and of this number of letters only 10,000,000 or 12,000,000 go to our Colonies and India; (3) whether in consequence of the refusal of the Foreign Governments to permit England to reduce her postage rates from 2½d. to 2d he has called the Chancellor of the Exchequer's attention 1583 to the fact that a saving of 53,000,000 halfpennies will be effected, and that the cost of establishing Imperial penny postage will only amount to 30,000,000 halfpennies; and (4) whether he will propose to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the saving through the rejection of Great Britain's proposal shall he devoted to establishing penny postage to all parts of the Empire, and, whether he will consent to establish ocean penny postage to our Colonies if he receives the written consent of the Prime Ministers and Governments concerned?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) Prestonit is the fact that, in accordance with the instructions which they received, the British Delegates at the recent Postal Congress announced the intention of her Majesty's Government to fix the English equivalent of 25 centimes at 2d. instead of 2½d. The Postmaster General is aware that about 53,000,000 letters (including post-cards) are dispatched annually abroad, and that about 12,000,000 of this number go to our Colonies and India. The last two paragraphs of the Question relate to matters of policy, of a kind which would require the attention of the Government, and could not in any case be conveniently answered within the limits of a reply to a question. This must also be my answer to the hon. Member's other Question.
§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that the British Officers at present quartered at Carmen, Island of Crete, send and receive a number of private letters from Malta; that these letters travel invariably by one of Her Majesty's ships, free of cost, to the Malta Post Office, yet the postal officials at the latter place rule that all these letters must be stamped with a stamp, though the Malta inland rate is alleged to be only a halfpenny?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster General has no information as to the postage charged on any private letters from Malta for British Officers quartered at Canea which may be conveyed by Her Majesty's ships. But as 2½d., or the equivalent of 25 centimes, where no agreement exists to the contrary, is the universal postage of the world from and to countries included in the Postal 1584 Union, he thinks it most probable that the authorities at Malta require the letters to bear this postage. The post office of the island is not administered by the Imperial Post Office.