§ MR. J. P. FARRELLI beg also to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-General, whether he is aware that at 8.5 p.m. on the 8th March a letter containing a banker's draft for £100, to be used by receiver for the purchase of pigs for sender, was posted at Sheffield, addressed to Mr. Peter Hunt, Post Office, Ballinasloe, Ireland; that, in consequence of a mistake in sorting, this letter was sent to Ballina, from which it had to be re-posted to Ballinasloe, involving a delay of one and a half days and the loss of the fair to the intended recipient of same; and that this mistake meant a loss to Mr. Hunt of about £10; and will the Department now recoup him for his loss?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster-General became aware by a complaint from Mr. Hunt, that a letter addressed to him at the Post Office, Ballinsloe, Ireland, was posted at Sheffield on the evening of the 8th March, in time for the despatch to Ireland at 8.55 p.m., and that this letter, instead of reaching Ballinasloe the next morning, was through an error in sorting, mis-sent to Ballina, and reached the addressee too late for his purpose. The Postmaster-General has received Mr. Hunt's statement of the contents of the letter, and of the loss which he calculates he has sustained, but it is not possible to give compensation for loss arising out of the delay of a letter. The Postmaster-General regrets the occurrence, and any loss or inconvenience suffered by Mr. Hunt.