§ SIR CAMERON GULL (Devonshire, Barnstaple)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the night mails for North Devon are sent on from Exeter by luggage train, and that owing to the delay so caused and to the refusal 658 of the Post Office to adopt the method of railway sub-offices more generally, letters are not delivered in the outlying country districts until late in the morning, and whether he will take steps to expedite the train service and to adopt in more cases railway sub-offices.
§ MR. HANBURYThe question of improving the night mail service to country districts in North Devon is under consideration. The cost of substituting a faster train from Exeter for that now used would be considerable, and the Postmaster General fears that such an alteration would be quite impracticable. It may be possible, however, to effect some acceleration of the local services, and the Postmaster General has caused a communication to be addressed to the local railway company enquiring what would be the cost of improving the Lynton service. If any means are found practicable for improving the postal services to Lynton and Hartland they will be readily adopted.