MR. SMITH-BARRY (Hunts., Huntingdon)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that serious complaints have been made as to the delays to telegrams received at the Cork office; is he aware that Press telegrams frequently occupy from two to three hours in transmission between the Central Telegraph Office in London and Cork, and that on the 18th ultimo a Press message reporting the proceedings of the House of Commons was handed in in London at 6.5 p.m. addressed to the Cork papers, to which it was not delivered 1151 until past 9 p.m.; also that a short message of sporting news handed in at Hamilton on the same day at 6.55 p.m. was not delivered to the Cork Constitution until 9.42 p.m.; whether the bulk of the delay complained of takes place within the Cork office itself; whether he will cause a Return to be prepared showing the time at which each message was received after 6 p.m. in the Cork office, and the time at which it was sent to the delivery room, and the time at which it was despatched by messenger to the addressee, such Return to apply to till the messages received during the week ended 21st ultimo; whether he is aware that there is an unusual proportion of learners, paid and unpaid, in the Cork office; and, whether he will cause steps to be taken to reduce the delays on telegrams in the Cork office, and to provide a staff adequate to deal with the telegraphic work promptly and efficiently?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY, Preston)Complaints such as those to which the right honourable Member refers have been made; and Press telegrams do, in the case of long messages, sometimes occupy from two to three hours in transmission between London and Cork. The delay sustained by the two messages to which the right honourable Member more particularly refers was to some extent caused by the great pressure which existed on the 18th ultimo. It does not appear that the bulk of the delay takes place in the Cork office, and there is not an unusual proportion of learners in that office; it appears, however, that the force of the office requires strengthening, and proposals on the subject are under consideration. In the meantime, authority has been given for some addition to the staff. It is not possible to prepare the Return as suggested, but the Postmaster General has obtained particulars of the time occupied in dealing with messages in the Cork office, and he will cause such steps to be taken as may be possible to prevent avoidable delay. It must be remembered, however, that, in the case of Press messages, the Department is called on to do so much that it would not be reasonable to expect that they should be disposed of in anything like the same time as ordinary messages.