§ 42. Mr. ELLIS DAVIESasked the Postmaster-General whether telegrams addressed to those residents within three miles of Garndolbenmaen post office, Carnarvonshire, are accepted for delivery at the ordinary rate; and, if so, whether, in view of the loss incurred on the telegraph service, he will consider the desirability in the first instance of securing the residents a daily delivery of letters?
§ The ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Captain Norton)The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. No doubt such telegrams are handled at a loss to the taxpayer, but I do not think that this affords any argument for incurring the greater loss which a daily delivery of letters would entail.
§ 43. Mr. ELLIS DAVIESasked why certain persons residing within two miles of the post office at Garndolbenmaen, Carnarvonshire, have no daily delivery of letters, whilst those resident in the hills several miles away have a daily delivery; and by what authority a distinction is drawn between the postal privileges enjoyed by various residents in the same district, and who decides what is the area in respect of which an estimate is made as to the expense of a daily delivery of letters?
§ Captain NORTONThe extension of postal facilities in rural areas is necessarily governed by several considerations, among them the position of the houses at which delivery is to be made in relation to the delivery centres and the roads. Departure from the general rules in order to avoid apparent anomalies would involve expenditure which I could not justify. In cases 1013 such as this the Post Office often spends all and more than all the revenue which it receives.