HC Deb 18 May 1897 vol 49 cc727-8
MR. ASCROFT

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that all telegrams dispatched from London to Oldham (and vice versâ), which has in the Parliamentary borough over 200,000 inhabitants, have to be sent first to Manchester, and thence transferred by wire to Oldham, thereby causing great delay and inconvenience; whether he is aware that the speech delivered by the First Lord of the Treasury on the Sunday Closing Bill in Ireland on the 12th instant was sent from the House of Commons telegraph office at 4.15 p.m., and only arrived at Oldham at 5.30 p.m., and whether there is any means by which the speed can be increased above two and a-half miles a minute; whether he is aware that great inconvenience and loss is occasioned through there being no direct telegraph wire between London and Oldham; whether he is aware that no telegrams can be dispatched or received at the head office in Oldham between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and that a distance of seven miles has to be travelled before one can be sent from the nearest office; and whether he is prepared to receive a deputation from the Corporation of Oldham, the Chamber of Commerce, and other public bodies in the town, in respect thereof, or to consider the possibility of removing the cause of grievance complained of, with a view to granting to Oldham such telegraph facilities as its importance as a large commercial centre justifies?

THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) Preston

The Postmaster General is aware that telegrams between London and Oldham have to be re-transmitted at Manchester; also that the head telegraph office at Oldham is closed between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and that the nearest office open all night is about seven miles distant. As to the rest of the Question, he cannot, on this short notice, give any answer, but he will be glad to have an inquiry made, and he will then be in a position to consider whether it is necessary to trouble the Corporation and other public bodies to send a deputation.