§ MR. HOGANI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether, owing to the under - staffing and various other causes, considerable quantities of Indian and Australian mails have recently failed to catch the steamers for which they were intended.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HANBURY,) PrestonOn several recent occasions it has not been practicable to include all the printed matter for India and Australia in the mails for which it was intended; but no letters have on any occasion been left behind. Several causes have contributed to the delay. The public have the habit of leaving the posting of their Indian and Australian correspondence to the very last moment—that is to say, till Friday evening; and the work has been enormously increased of late on that evening by the large number of letters and newspapers posted for the troops in South Africa. Further, there has not been room at the General Post Office for an adequate staff of men to deal with the outgoing foreign mails. Now that the provincial work of the United Kingdom has been removed to Mount Pleasant, steps are being taken to increase the staff at the General Post Office, and it is hoped that by this means the irregularity to which the Hon. Member refers will be remedied. This end, however, would still be the more easily attained if the public 70 would post as much of their Indian and Australian correspondence as possible earlier in the week.
§ MR. HOGANI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether the Continental railways that carry the Australian mails are liable to any penalty for needless delays caused by carlessness and inefficiency in their working arrangements; and, if not, whether the propriety of inserting such a provision in future contracts will be taken into consideration.
§ MR. HANBURYI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Australian mails landed at Naples. The Postmaster General has no relations with the Italian and French railway companies which convey those mails; and he has no information as to the arrangements existing between them and their respective Governments. The payment for the transit of those mails is made to the Italian and French post offices, and is regulated by the Postal Convention of Washington. I understand that the inward mail from Naples is paid for by the Australian Government, who are content with the ordinary train service, whereas the English Government, deem it necessary to have a special train for the outward mail.