§ EARL GREYwished to put a question to the noble Viscount the Postmaster General, of which he had not given him notice, respecting the transmission of letters to the fleet which had been despatched to the Baltic. His attention had been attracted to an announcement that the packet rate of ls. 8d. per ½ oz. would be charged on all letters addressed to officers serving on board the fleet in the Baltic. Their Lord- 994 ships would feel, with himself, that to officers engaged in a service of that kind there was no such comfort as easy communication with their friends at home; and, undoubtedly, it appeared to him desirable that letters should be conveyed to them at as cheap a rate as they were conveyed from one part of the kingdom to the other. There was no reason why this should not be so, since there would be no expense actually incurred, because the letters would be sent by the Queen's vessels, employed in keeping up the communication between Her Majesty's Government and the fleet in the Baltic. He, therefore, begged to ask his noble Friend if he could give any explanation of that announcement, and whether he could hold out any hope that the rate charged on letters to officers serving on board this fleet during the present expedition would be reduced?
§ VISCOUNT CANNINGsaid, he was very glad the noble Earl had put the question, as he had no doubt the announcement was calculated to create great disappointment. The facts were these:—By the Act 3 & 4 Vict., which regulates the charges on certain letters, the Postmaster General was bound to charge on all letters to the north of Europe the old packet rate of 1s. 8d. the ½ oz. By another Act of Parliament all letters forwarded by the Queen's ships were to be treated as letters forwarded by packets. All letters, therefore, sent to the Baltic fleet by the Queen's ships were charged, without there being any power in the Postmaster General to remit it, at 1s. 8d. the ½ oz. The only power the Postmaster General had was, by warrant from the Treasury, to reduce the rate generally upon letters sent to particular parts of the world. He had lately applied to the Treasury for a warrant empowering the Post Office to reduce the charge upon officers' letters to 6d., and to allow letters to and from the soldiers and sailors of the fleet to be conveyed in any of Her Majesty's vessels at the low rate of 1d. When these arrangements were carried into effect he did not think there would be much reason for complaint.
§ EARL GREYwas glad to hear that his noble Friend proposed to reduce the charge upon officers' letters to 6d., which was all that could be done without the aid of Parliament; but he trusted that, considering the nature of the service upon which the officers were employed—considering also that many of them were poor men, and that the conveyance of their letters would 995 put the Government to no expense whatever—the Post Office would apply to Parliament for power to transmit these letters with an ordinary penny stamp, as they would do from one part of the kingdom to another. They should all feel that the officers were engaged in an arduous and dangerous service, that they had great claims upon the sympathy of the Legislature, and that the least which could be done for them would be to grant them such an indulgence as he had suggested.
§ House adjourned till To-morrow.