MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether sub-postmasters are called upon to fix wall letter boxes at, and where necessary erect iron pillar letter boxes opposite, their offices at their own expense, and at a cost varying from £3 to £8, and in addition to keep them in repair and have them painted regularly; and whether, seeing that in some cases the Department has refunded the whole cost to the sub-postmaster in quarterly instalments, and in others half the cost only, but that in the majority of cases nothing has been refunded towards the cost, one uniform system could be adopted, and every sub-postmaster be refunded the full cost of the letter box?
§ MR. HANBURYIt is part of every sub-postmaster's duty to provide a letter box at his own expense and maintain it, and as a general rule he makes his own arrangements for doing so. But in special cases where structural difficulties exist, a pillar box is erected and the sub-postmaster is required to pay for the box a sum of about £4, which is estimated also to cover the cost of maintenance. The Department has sometimes felt justified in exceptional cases, such as a very brief tenure of the office, in remitting a portion of the expense incurred, but it is not thought expedient that the full cost of the box should be borne by the Revenue, and Lord Tweedmouth's Committee expressed their opinion that "the provision of letter boxes must be regarded as on of the conditions of sub-postmasters employment."