§ LORD LAMINGTONI beg to ask Her Majesty's Government whether cards conforming in size, weight, and shape with Post Office regulations will be allowed transmission through the post with an adhesive halfpenny stamp, as is already permitted when the matter written on the cards is identical, as in the case of circulars; whether the actual cost of the cards is an expense to the Government, or whether they make a profit on the sale; and, in the latter case, what justification there is for the Government making a profit on the sale of stationery; what objection there is to the public supplying their own cards; and whether, as the question has been some years under the consideration of the Departmental Committee of the Post Office, they have yet come to a decision?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Viscount CROSS)I have been requested to answer the question of the noble Lord. I am afraid the only answer I can give is that the question is still under the consideration of Her Majesty's Government; that the prices charged to the public leave a slight margin of profit, but against this is to be set the cost of distribution, which is considerable.
§ LORD LAMINGTONMy Lords, that would be an argument in favour of allowing the public to supply their own cards.