§ MR. NANNETTII beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that on the evening of the 23rd of December, there was a breakdown in the Dublin Sorting Office, and that thousands of letters were delayed, and that there has hitherto not been any such occurrence at such an early stage of the Christmas pressure; can he state how many letters for the Dublin districts were left undelivered on Christmas Day, and the cause of the failure of the arrangements to meet with the public demands this Christmas.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINIt is the case that a portion of the correspondence missed the night mail despatch from Dublin on the 23rd ultimo, owing to an exceptionally heavy posting by the public at so late an hour, that the staff, although specially augmented for the occasion, was unable to dispose of the whole of the work in time. The whole of the Dublin correspondence was delivered on Christmas Day, except about 796 3,500 of the bulkier packets, which were delivered early the next morning.