§ MR. J. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, (1) whether he has yet come to a decision on the question of charging in telegrams compound words of names and places as one word; (2) whether he is aware that Kentish Town, a postal and telegraph office, is charged as two words in a telegram, but Woodford Green is charged as one word; that Charing Cross is charged as two words, but Newcastle-on-Tyne as one word; that in a foreign telegram arriving here Saint John's is charged as one word, but St. John's as two words; and that in Great Britain and Ireland Saint John's 50 is charged as two words, but St. John's as one word; (3) whether his attention has been directed to a column of telegraphic regulations of this kind recently published: and (4) whether he will direct that clear and definite rules, embodying one intelligible principle, shall be substituted for those on the subject in the Post Office Guide?
§ MR. HANBURYIt is difficult to say what are compound names; whether, for instance, my hon. Friend would treat even his own name as one word or two, on 21st May last year my hon. Friend was then, as now, concerned about the same three places—Kentish Town, Charing Cross, and Woodford Green—mentioned in the Question. I then explained that Kentish Town and Charing Cross are charged as two words, while Wood ford Green is charged as one, because, like Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it is a separate town or village, and neither of the other two places is. Similarly the abbreviated St. John's is charged as one word in inland telegrams as being the name of a village. There is apparently no town or village which spells the word "Saint" in full. My hon. Friend is wrong in thinking that in foreign telegrams the longer form is charged as one word and the shorter as two. It is clear that without a rule such as I have mentioned any group of houses might describe itself by a name as long as an ordinary sentence and claim that it should be treated as one word. If my hon. Friend can himself suggest any more "intelligible principle," such as the Question proposes, the Post Office will, I am sure, be glad of his assistance. But his suggestions (including the letter to The Times of August 27th last, which is referred to in the third paragraph) have, in fact, created instead of decreased anomalies. He recently proposed that "all right" should be treated as one word by dropping one "I" and running the remaining letters together, which he implied was the proper and ordinary method. It was on his urgent appeal that mother-in-law was allowed to be charged as one word, while father-in-law was left to count for as many as three. The Post Office, however, has since redressed the grievance thus created by my hon. Friend.
§ MR. HENNIKER HEATONMay I be allowed to explain that no personal motives influenced me? I obtained the reform at the earnest request of hon. Members on both sides, who said that they would prefer facing a Turkish battalion led by the hon. Member for the Ecclesall Division of Sheffield, than these mothers-in-law.
MR. E. G. WEBSTERI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether, if any change is made in the charge for inland telegrams in the names of places, he will favourably consider the desirability of charging respectively as one word the following: Kentish Town, Camden Town, and Somers Town, all of which are large and important localities in London?
§ MR. HANBURYFrom the answer given to the hon. Member for Canterbury it will be seen that the Postmaster General does not see his way to propose any change in the method of charging the names of places in inland telegrams. It may perhaps be pointed out, however, that it is not necessary to give the name of the locality except when there is more than one street of the same name in the Postal District. In other cases the initials of the Postal District, which count as one word, are sufficient.