§ MR. BOWLESI beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that, during the two years ending July, 1906, 80,000 now Post Office hampers, of the average value of £1 per hamper, were, at the instance of the Postal Department, burned by the contractors, who were paid £1 per 100 for destroying them; whether the only reason for destroying these hampers at the public expense was that the Department had decided to adopt another kind; and whether some of these hampers are still being burned by a South London firm of contractors who are being paid by the Post Office for destroying them.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONThe hon. Member has been misinformed. The baskets to which he refers were not now, but upwards of eleven years old; the number destroyed was about 3,000 not 80,000. They were heavy baskets of an obsolete pattern; and as it was found that an economy would be effected by replacing them, even though not quite worn out, by a much lighter receptacle, it was decided after full consideration to withdraw them from use. If they had been sold they would have realised only a very low price; and as it was not considered desirable, being a Post Office pattern, that they should be used for ordinary purposes, there was no alternative but to destroy them.