§ The case of the Postmaster-General is different. He wishes me to sacrifice some of the revenue which I should otherwise obtain from him for effecting improvements in the service, 298 and giving increased facilities to the public. Among the many large and beneficent schemes on which his affections are set, he agrees to be content in the present year with two or three, which I must briefly enumerate and describe. The first is the revision of the upper scale of the parcel post, which I can best explain by an illustration. A 4lb. parcel will continue to be carried as at present for 6d., a 5lb. parcel for 6d. instead of 7d., a 7lb. parcel for 7d. instead of 9d., and parcels from 7lb. to 11lb. at a rate of 1d. per lb. It is believed that this reduction will be especially beneficial to agriculturists, and particularly to those who carry on their industry on a small scale, and who in consequence of it will be able to send consignments of fowls, butter, eggs, vegetables, and other produce by post at a much easier rate. Secondly, we give enlarged postal and telegraphic facilities to rural districts, securing that each place in the United Kingdom shall have save in very exceptional cases at least three deliveries a week, and, in case of a guarantee being required, where postal telegraph or telephone facilities are given, the Postmaster-General shall in ordinary conditions take two-thirds of the risk. Thirdly, we give a reduction of commission on postal orders for small amounts. The present scale presses very heavily on the comparatively poor. The commission on postal orders of 2s. and 2s. 6d. will be reduced from 1d. to ½d., and on orders of 11s. to 15s. inclusive from 1½d. to 1d. At the same time, the commission on foreign and colonial money orders for sums not exceeding £1 will be reduced from 4d. to 3d. There will finally be an enlargement of the definition of documents transmissible by post at ½d., so as to give benefit to purely formal communications. This will stop a good deal of friction between the Post Office and the trading community. Assuming that the changes in the parcel post and postal order rates come into force on July 1st and those in the halfpenny post on October 1st, there will be in the current financial year an estimated loss of revenue of £105,000.