§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, if he is aware that on two Sundays in February the postman delivering in the Knowle Park district of Keighley returned numbers of undelivered letters; that the delivery of those letters was delayed twenty-four hours; that, on one occasion, the postmaster accompanied the man round the walk and insisted that he should not stay until his knocks were answered but should carry away the letters; and that, although many householders complain that though they responded with promptitude, the postman left before they reached the door; and whether he will give instructions to the Keighley postmaster to act in such a manner as to avoid inconvenience in the Sunday morning delivery of letters.
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBER- LAIN, Worcestershire, E.)The Sunday delivery of letters at Keighley having become too protracted, in order to test the working of the arrangements, the postmaster accompanied one of the postmen on his round on the two Sundays referred to. He reports that most of the houses in the Knowle Park district have no street door letter boxes, and that at many of them no one came immediately to receive the letters. In order that other people might not have to wait for their correspondence, and that the postman's Sunday work might not be unduly protracted, the postmaster instructed the postman, after knocking at the door and waiting a reasonable time without response, to proceed on his route. In the Postmaster General's opinion the postmaster was justified in adopting this course.