§ 36. Mr. FFRENCHasked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that a parcel of lace was posted at the Adamstown sub-post office on 9th April last, addressed to Mr. J. J. Downs, 1211, North Grand Avenue, St. Louis, and registered at £5; will he say whether the Post Office admits that it went down with the "Titanic"; and, if so, why does the Post Office refuse to pay for it?
§ The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Herbert Samuel)The packet to which the hon. Member refers was posted as a registered letter, and it was lost in the wreck of the "Titanic." I am advised that, on the finding of the Court of Inquiry, the loss of the ship is to be attributed to causes beyond control; and, under the regulations published in the "Post Office Guide," no compensation is payable in respect of a registered letter addressed to a place abroad and lost in such circumstances, shipwreck being specifically excluded by those regulations. I regret that compensation must, therefore, be refused in this and other similar cases. Compensation is being paid in cases where letters and parcels lost in the "Titanic" were insured.