§ MAJOR JAMESON (Clare, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury as representing the Postmaster General if he is aware that no letters from Burren, Ballyvaughan, and the Galway district are delivered in Ennis until mid-day, and that there is no postal delivery from these places to Ennis on Sunday; whether he is aware that letters from these places to Ennis are carried by mail car from Oranmore, and do not arrive in Ennis until 7.30 a.m; and whether be is prepared to arrange a proper and efficient postal service for that district?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster General has caused inquiry to be made as to the postal service between the Galway district and Ennis, but there has not been time to complete the enquiry-so as to give a full answer to the hon. Member to-day. he shall be answered as soon as possible.
§ MR. MACNEILLI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, the reason why a letter should take about 20 hours from the time of collection in Dublin to its delivery in Bristol; and whether these is any reason why the departure from Crewe to Cardiff and Bristol of one of the three trains leaving Crewe at 1.20 a.m., 1.30 a.m., and 1.40 a.m., should not he deferred until after the arrival of the night Irish mail from Dublin at 2.45 a.m. so as to remedy this state of things.
MR. HANBITRYDublin letters posted in the evening are delivered in Bristol by the delivery commencing at 1.30 p.m. The letters are sent via Birmingham, where they arrive at 4.30 a.m., and go on thence by the first available train, viz. that at 6.35 a.m., which is due at Bristol at 11.37 a.m. The question of establishing a train from Birmingham at about 5 0 a.m. has more than once been considered, but, the large cost relatively to the correspondence has hitherto prevented the adoption of such a course. The matter as affecting not Bristol only, but other towns, is being looked into, and if any improvement can be effected at a cost which the circumstances warrant, the Postmaster General will be glad to meet the wishes that have been expressed. As regards the suggestion that one of the trains leaving Crewe in the early morning should bit detained until after the arrival of the night mail from Dublin at 2.45 a.m., the Postmaster General fears it is not, feasible, as the detention of any one of the trains in question would lead not only to the loss of passenger connections, but to the delay of the English mails over a large area.
§ MR. J. H. PARNELL (Meath, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that the English mail which arrives in Dublin early in the afternoon is not delivered in county Meath, an adjoining county, till the next morning, though there is convenient train service every evening; whether he is also aware that the morning mail which arrives in Drogheda, at, 6.45 a.m. is left, there till 10 a.m., and is not delivered in Navan till 11 o'clock mid till noon; and whether he will see that the postal service is made more efficient?
§ MR. HANBURYOwing to the short notice given by the hon. Member, the Postmaster General is unable to do more than state that inquiry shall be made as to the arrangements for the delivery of the English mail at the places referred to. The result shall be communicated to the hon. Member.