LORD LAMINGTONMy Lords, in asking Her Majesty's Government "whether they will consider the adoption of certain desirable reforms in the Postal and Telegraphic Departments of 1090 this country, namely, Allowing the public to affix halfpenny stamps to cards for transmission by post, such cards conforming in all respects to Post Office Regulations; the stamping in plain figures the hour of collection as well as the date on letters; a reduction in the present high rate of porterage for telegrams, "I trust I shall not be considered venturesome on this my first occasion of addressing your Lordships' House, but I do so relying entirely on your forbearance. I felt some hesitation in putting this question of apparently trivial importance on the Paper; but my excuse is that it is a matter of public concern, and was so considered when I had the honour of a seat in another place. I was also further encouraged by the success which attended certain endeavours of Mr. Henniker Heaton to obtain a substantial reduction in our Indian and Colonial Postage system. The first question I ask is, relative to the public being themselves allowed to affix adhesive halfpenny stamps upon any ordinary cards. It is evident that there are the same reasons of convenience in their being allowed to do so as there is in the case of ordinary letters. It would be a great convenience as compared either with having always to obtain the stamped cards or to send them to the Post Office to be stamped. I was told that there would be considerable friction between the Postal Department and the public who availed themselves of such a system; and the Postmaster General said the public would be unwilling to abide by the regulations which would have to be made with regard to the size, weight, and shape of the cards to be used. I cannot see that there would be likely to be any greater friction in that ease than in the case of overweight letters, and the remedy would be the same as in that case, namely, that the addressee or receiver of the card would have to pay double postal rate. But that is not the only point. I have in my hand certain cards which have been allowed to have adhesive halfpenny stamps placed upon them when the Postmaster has been satisfied that the matter written on the different postcards is identical, as in the case of circulars. The only difference, therefore, would be that the Postal Authorities, instead of having the trouble of reading the matter upon the cards, 1091 would merely have to see that the cards conformed to the regulations as to size and so on. If you send half a dozen cards with the matter identical on each, the Postal Authorities will receive the cards with an ordinary adhesive stamp. And not only so, but all the ordinary regulations concerning size and weight are dropped, apparently, for it is possible to send an invitation card to a City banquet for a ½d.; so that all regulations as to size are apparently dropped as long as the Postal Authorities know that the cards are practically circulars. It seems an absolute anomaly that in the one case the public are not allowed to use adhesive stamps if it is desired to write a message on an ordinary card; but that, in the other case, if cards are sent out as circulars, the public may affix their own stamps. Then another point upon which objection is made to this system is that of cost. At the present time the Post Office has to pay £283 per 1,000,000 cards to Messrs. De la Rue, and as they use about 200,000,000 a year, that represents a sum of nearly £60,000 a year. In addition to that, there is a great difference also in regard to the cost of distribution and making up into packets, which is also large; whereas to issue 1,000,000 ½d. stamps only costs the Post Office £16 7s. 6d., as compared with this sum of £283 which they have to pay for the cards. I am aware that the Post Office claim to make good the loss they sustain in the amount spent upon these cards by the charge which they make of ¾d. in the place of ½d. per single card. But my contention is, that if there be any loss upon this postal card system, the public are willing, to a great extent, to take upon themselves to supply their own cards. If, on the other hand, the Post Office are making a profit on the sale of these cards, they are not entitled to do so. I do not think there is any Act of Parliament entitling the Post Office to carry on a profit-making Stationery Department. All I wish to say is that as long as we have the postcard system the public are entitled to have it carried on as economically and as conveniently as possible, and in both Belgium and Germany they have this system. The next point to which I desire to call attention is stamping the hour of collection upon 1092 letters. All correspondence in addition to having the name of the post office and date stamped upon them should also show the hour of collection. This applies more particularly to the Metropolis, where it would afford a very urgently required check. There are continual complaints-made of the irregularities of the postal system, and no dependence can be placed upon the time when a letter posted in one district will be delivered at another part of the Metropolis. Other countries have adopted such a system, and I have here papers showing that in America, Australia, and Canada, they have adopted the plan of stamping the hour of collection as well as the date, and that by that means they ensure much greater regularity in regard to the despatch and delivery of letters, in consequence of the great check thereby afforded upon the post offices. My last question is with regard to the charges for porterage of telegrams. This applies, of course, to rural districts. When the sixpenny telegram system was introduced it was intended to be for the good of the whole community, but practically rural districts do not share in that benefit. Though the telegraph system was, of course, established for the benefit of the whole country, rural districts are left out in the cold entirely in regard to offices and messengers with which urban districts are plentifully supplied. That has the effect of preventing persons who live-more than a mile from a post office enjoying the great boon of the sixpenny telegram. One great obstacle is that the public cannot get a post office established without a very large guarantee being provided; and this difficulty would be met if the Post Office Autho-ritices would consent to a reduction of the guarantee upon the establishment of new postal telegraph offices. They did so last year in regard to establishing telegraph offices at fishing stations in Scotland, and I think they might extend the system in that way to a much greater degree throughout the country. I do not propose the abolition of all porterage fees, but I think the scale of charges might be altered. Any surplus arising from year to year should, I think, be-devoted to lessening the amounts paid for porterage. At present, the whole country does not enjoy the benefit of the lowered telegraph tariff as long as heavy 1093 porterage charges are imposed which are practically prohibitive to the poorer people who may have to pay what is, perhaps, the very considerable sum of 1s. or 1s. 6d. for a telegram. My Lords, those are the three points which I wish to bring before the notice of Her Majesty's Government. I know that the noble Lord, who will answer me, is not in direct connection with the Post Office, and, therefore, I cannot expect from him a very copious answer; but I trust he will make the necessary representations to the Post Office, and endeavour to induce them to undertake some reform in the directions I have pointed out.
THE EARL OF MEATHMy Lords, there is a fourth reform which would be very desirable, though it has not been mentioned by the noble Lord, upon which I should like to say a few words, and that is the carte-lettre which, in Prance, I have found of the greatest possible value. By means of that contrivance, the contents of a post card can be kept private, and the system saves a great deal of trouble, there being no envelope and no necessity of folding the letter.
*THE EARL OF JERSEYMy Lords, I am sure your Lordships will welcome the participation of the noble Lord in the discussions of this House, but I am afraid that my answer will not meet all his wishes. With regard to the first point I have to reply that the question of wending private cards with adhesive stamps through the post is at the present moment under the consideration of the Postmaster General. In reference to the second proposition that the hours of collection should be stamped upon letters, as well as the date, I have to point out that letters which have been posted have sometimes to be collected from a great distance before they can reach the office from which they are taken away, and where they are stamped; so that under no system would it be possible to do more than give approximately the time of collection, and I do not think there would be much advantage to be derived from that being done. I am informed by the Post Office Authorities that it would be impossible to enable the public to trace their correspondence without reference to the Department, which has already a sufficient check upon their officers. Therefore, the 1094 Postmaster General does not think that any public advantage would be gained by adopting my noble Friend's second proposition. As regards the question of porterage for telegrams, I may say that the charge is only 6d. up to two miles distance from the delivery office, and 6d. per mile beyond. That is to say, a telegram will be delivered within three miles for 1s. Above that distance the charge is 1s. a mile for a messsenger on horseback. The Postmaster General does not think that is too high a rate, and he can hold out no hope of any reductions in that direction. But I am authorised to state that wherever telegrams can be carried at a lower rate than I have mentioned, the public get the benefit of that lower rate; and also that, owing to the increased number of telegraph offices in the country, the delivery distances are gradually growing less and the charges accordingly reduced. During the last five years about 1,245 new telegraph stations have been opened. Of course, they have not all been in country districts; some of them are in the towns, but the Postmaster General is always anxious to give every facility for the opening of new telegraph offices, and the arrangements have been altered as to guarantees subscribed for by the public in districts to meet any deficiency which may arise in the Revenue. Those guarantees are now not asked for until the close of the year, and not, as formerly, required to be paid at the commencement. With regard to the fourth question, I am afraid I am not in a position to answer it, but I will communicate it to the Postmaster General.