30 and 64. Major BARINGasked the Secretary of State for War (1) if he is aware that orders sent through the post by the secretary of a Red Cross detachment to the members is treated by the 1255 Post Office as being in the nature of a letter and is not given the benefit of the ½d. rate; if he will use his influence with the Postmaster-General to get this ruling altered in favour of those doing a public work recognised by the War Office; (2) why the official orders sent to the members of a Red Cross detachment are not given the benefit of the ½d. rate; and if he can see his way to alter the ruling recently given in the case of the Honiton detachment, and permit official orders to be sent out under the same conditions as circulars?
§ The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Herbert Samuel)My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to these questions. A communication of the kind in question is not admissible at the halfpenny rate unless it is wholly printed, or printed on a form with entries of the restricted character described upon page 12 of the Post Office Guide. The term "printing" includes any mechanical process ordinarily used to reproduce a number of identical copies of a written original, but there are certain restrictions which are stated at the top of page 13 of the Post Office Guide. Such limitations are necessary if the halfpenny post is not to encroach upon the province of the penny post. I am not in a position to exempt any persons or any body of persons from the operation of these regulations, but the Red Cross detachment can secure the advantage of the halfpenny post by using forms of the character I have described for its circular notices instead of sending wholly written communications.
Major BARINGWill the right hon. Gentleman reconsider his decision in view of the fact that the detachments have to work on very small funds and are not able to have a printing press or to have the letters typewritten?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELIt is not a question of Red Cross detachments against any other organisation. No organisations are exempted from these regulations. These detachments can get the benefit of halfpenny post by adopting the very simple method which I have suggested of having their notices partly printed or partly reproduced by mechanical process and the mere dates and names filled in the blank spaces.
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThe cost is infinitesimal.