§ LORD CECIL MANNERS (Leicestershire, Melton)To ask the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that a new regulation will come into force on March 15th requiring letters bearing the late fee of an extra halfpenny stamp to be posted in a special box at a post office instead of as at present in any pillar box, he will, in the interest of the public convenience, consider the advisability of retaining the existing facilities of posting.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) Owing to the enormous growth of the correspondence falling into the 7 p.m. collection in the central districts of London it is not now possible in the short time available to pick out all the letters, etc., bearing a late-fee stamp if they are posted in the same box as other letters. The result is that some of them fail to be selected in time for inclusion in the mails for which they are intended. To obviate this I have reluctantly been compelled to restrict the posting of these late-fee letters to special boxes which have been provided at all post offices in the districts affected.