§ MR BLACK (Banffshire)To ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the fact that loss has arisen to the proprietors of the Banffshire Advertiser newspaper through the action of the post office at Beira, South Africa, in retaining undelivered for more than six months a number of copies of that newspaper in place of, as requested on the cover, returning each individual copy so soon as it was ascertained that delivery could not be made; and whether steps will be taken to prevent the recurrence of the action complained of.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) As I informed the hon. Member, when replying to a letter which he wrote to me on this subject recently, the post office at Beira would not be bound to return any of the newspapers in question to this country for six months. Some of them were, however, "retained there for a longer period, and the delay has already been reported to the Portuguese authorities in order that it may be inquired into.