§ MR. LAIDLAWI beg to ask the Postmaster-General if he contemplates the early introduction of the revised time table for the Indian mails; if he will consider the advisability of arranging for a Friday morning instead of a Saturday morning delivery in London; and whether he is aware that the present time table enables Continental firms to reply to their correspondents a week earlier than the British, who are thus seriously handicapped in their competition with foreign traders.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONThe time table for the Indian mails under the new contract is already in operation. It provides for a delivery of homeward mails at Brindisi at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, and their receipt in London at 10 p.m. on Fridays. In the monsoon season (May to October) the time is thirty-six hours later. It is probable that occasionally, when the mail arrives at Brindisi in advance of the contract time, a delivery on Friday in London will be possible; but a delivery on Friday morning could only be secured either by an increase of speed, which it was not found practicable to obtain, or by a complete alteration of the time table for Bombay and other Eastern ports. The existing time table was arranged with the concurrence of the Indian Government to the best advantage which circumstances permit; and I regret that I am not in a position to make the desired alteration.