§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that at the Clapham Common, Northern District, South Kensington, and Camden Road Post Offices telegraph instruments of the sounder type are worked near or on the public counters after 8 p.m., so that the contents 1215 of telegrams are disclosed to the members of the general public having a knowledge of the Morse code; whether he will state why the practice was instituted; and whether he will take steps to protect the secrecy of telegraphic messages?
§ MR. HANBURYThe telegraph instruments at the offices mentioned in the honourable Member's Question are worked at night and on Sundays near the public counter, but only an expert could gather any information as to the contents of the telegrams. At night and on Sundays the telegrams handed in at the offices in question are comparatively few, and the practice was instituted to avoid waste of force. The advantages of the arrangement are so clear and the risk so small that it is not considered necessary to make any alteration in it.