§ 34. Mr. Roebuckasked the Postmaster-General what was the outcome of the investigation initiated in his Department into the delay occasioned to eight letters posted by the San newspaper on 5th–6th October last.
Mr. ShortMy investigation, which has been carried out personally and with great care, has proved that the article in the Sun newspaper of 10th October was misleading and inaccurate. The inquiry by the Sun was conducted in an incompetent way. Half of the 600 test letters posted on the 4th October were incorrectly addressed—one-third of them omitted the most vital part of the address namely the post town. Nevertheless, the Post Office delivered a very large proportion of the items to time and the claim that eight are still missing is quite false. Though on 20th October the Sun was still stating that eight missing letters had not yet reached their destinations, on 13th October the writer of the article, who was invited to the Post Office, handed to the Post Office many of the 600 test letters, included in which were six of the alleged missing envelopes. From slips inside these items it appears that four of them certainly were delivered not later than 6th October and it is probable the other two were also delivered on that day.