§ MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that letters for England can he posted in Paris in the trains conveying the mails up to the moment of departure without extra fee, whereas in London these letters can only be posted in the station letter boxes which are cleared a quarter of an hour before the departure of the train, on the payment on week-days of a late fee of 4d.; and, if so, will he state what reason there is for this difference of treatment, and why the arrangements cannot be the same in the two countries.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) It is, I believe, the fact that letters for England can he posted in the station letter boxes at Paris up to the moment of departure without late fee; but the hon. Member is mistaken in thinking that similar letters for France must be posted at least a quarter of an hour before the departure of the train, as they can be posted in the box attached to the platform barrier at Cannon Street Station up to 9 p.m., or in the mad carriage up to the moment of departure. The late fee is charged, not for revenue purposes but in order to limit the number of letters so posted, as there is reason to think that there would otherwise be so many that the sorters, whose work is already very heavy, would have serious difficulty in dealing with them in the mail carriages during the short run from London to Dover.