§ MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland)I beg to ask the Post-master-General if he can state approximately the number of letters conveyed by the British India Steamship Company to Mombasa, and approximately the cost to the country of each letter; and whether, in view of the fact that there is practically no passenger traffic on the said line, he will consider the advisability in future arrangements of insisting that the service should be an adequate one.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarThe number of articles from the United Kingdom, excluding parcels, conveyed by the British India Steam Navigation Company on the mail service from Aden to Mombasa and Zanzibar is estimated at 145,000 per annum. The company also conveys about 380,000 articles per annum, originating in British possessions and foreign countries. The cost of conveying each letter cannot be stated, as the payment to the company is made in a lump sum covering the conveyance of all letter mails and parcel mails in both directions and between several ports. The question of revising this contract is under the consideration of His Majesty's Government.