§ COLONEL WELBY (Taunton)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-General, whether be is aware that the villages of Mere, Zeals, Bourton, and Buckhorn Weston, adjoining Gillingham, where there is a head post office and a railway station on the main South-Western line to Exeter, are in the postal delivery of Bath, distant more than 20 miles in a direct line: whether lie can see his way to rearranging the Gillingham and Bath deliveries so as to give these and neighbouring villages the full benefits of being situated near a main line of railway; and whether he can see his way to placing in the library of the House of Commons maps of the United Kingdom coloured to show the areas of the different rural postal deliveries.
§ *Mr. HANBURYThese villages are all in the postal delivery of Bath. To transfer them to the postal delivery of Gillingham might improve the communication with the districts served by the London and South-Western Railway, but would possibly impair the communication with the districts served by the Great Western Railway with which they have long been in direct communication, and it may be that a larger number of letters would be delayed than would be accelerated. The night mail service to and from Gillingham has, however, recently been placed upon a more secure footing than formerly, and inquiry shall be made as to the expediency of serving the places in question from Gillingham. The Post Office is not in possession of any maps coloured to show the areas of the different rural postal deliveries; and it would be a work of much complexity to 303 prepare such maps; which would, moreover, stand in need of constant correction, and would be unintelligible without further information which cannot be given on a map.