HL Deb 24 March 1927 vol 66 cc772-8

THE EARL OF DENBIGHhad given notice to call attention to the need of further extending the system of Postal "Cash on Delivery" as established a year ago, by making it available for articles sent by letter post, thereby increasing its convenience to the public as in other countries, besides encouraging trade and bringing more business and revenue to the Post Office; also to ask why the C.O.D. system cannot be made better known by a cancelling stamp on letters in the same way as was practised for a period for the purpose of urging a wider use of the telephone; and to ask for figures showing the progress of C.O.D.; and to move for Papers.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, about a year ago the system which is known as the Cash-on-Delivery system was adopted by His Majesty's Post Office after a very considerable amount of strenuous and what is regarded as rather ill-informed opposition, and I think it would be very interesting to know a little more about its working. The opposition was rather curious and rather contradictory. We had the big mail order stores—a product of our civilisation, which has been worked out to great perfection in the United States—objecting to it, I think largely because they have their own organisations for delivering goods and collecting cash, and they were very jealous of the smaller traders being put into a position of greater facility for competing with them by the help of Post Office facilities. Then we have opposition on the part of the retail organisations, mostly in the provincial towns, which are to a very large extent dominated by the larger stores. They took up the cry that with cash on delivery orders would go past the retailers of the towns to the big mail advertising shops. I suggest to your Lordships that those two lines of argument are mutually destructive, but I will not say anything more about that.

I want to impress upon the House that those who have been advocating this system and urging its extension have no axes of their own to grind, although a great deal of trouble has been taken in trying to inform the public on the question. That has been done solely with a view to trying to help the interests of trade and under the conviction that any arrangement which legitimately tends to bring purchasers and vendors more closely together is all to the advantage of trade. Trade, after all, is merely an exchange a money for commodities and providing people have money to spend, the more you tempt them and encourage them to spend the more commodities are bought and the more lively trade becomes. Therefore I maintain that it is all in the interest of trade to make it easier for people to go shopping and spend their money, if they have it.

It is quite extraordinary how in this country we have lagged behind other nations in this matter. I think we were almost the only important nation which had not adopted some system such as this. Germany has had it for the last 52 years. In the year 1913, the last normal year before the War, about 74,000,000 parcels of a general aggregate value of £78,000,000 were handled in Germany through the Post Office under this system. I do not know what the figures are in this country up to date and I am looking forward to hearing them from the noble Lord who will answer this question. I note that up to the end of the year—that is, Christmas—the results that were shown were quite encouraging and amounted to something well over a million a year. Considering the fact that there was a most extraordinary ignorance in the country—and there still is extraordinary ignorance in the country—I think that result is fairly satisfactory. But we are sure that when the general conveniences of this system become better known, not only amongst the public but amongst traders themselves, there will be a steady increase in the number of parcels sent through the Post Office under this system. What we particularly ask is that it should be extended to the letter post.

The system also should be of considerable use to small holders, as I pointed out last year. I have seen in the daily papers quite a number of advertisements from time to time offering what they call C.O.D. trading; for example, advertisements as to sending poultry and other produce direct to consumers in the towns. I imagine the prices show a very great improvement over the very excessive ones which are sometimes charged in the retail shops of the West End. I will give another example of a trade that ought to benefit considerably from this system. There is a very large business done nowadays by dyers and cleaners of garments of all sorts. The big houses in the cities have their motor organisations for delivering goods and collecting the money, but in the country it is quite different. The individual there, when the garments are ready to be sent off, has to send the money by post before the dyers and cleaners will deal with and return the goods, unless the sender has a regular running account with them. There are very few garments nowadays, very few ladies' garments at all events, that will not go by parcel post; I should think a good many of them would very likely go by letter post. I am certain that a very large business would be done in this way if the system were more generally known. With regard to books, medicines, small spare parts for motor-cars and machinery of every description, things you want in a hurry, the C.O.D. system offers enormous conveniences.

The worst of it is that people do not realise the conveniences of this system and the whole thing wants advertising. I am sure that the Postmaster-General would largely increase the C.O.D. figures if he were to advertise in the same way as he advertised the telephones when we saw "Say it by telephone" stamped on envelopes. If he would say "Shop by C.O.D." you would have people inquiring: "What is C.O.D.?" They would start inquiring in the same way as, not very long ago, they started inquiring as to what on earth the Mustard Club was. I am not sure that the Postmaster-General might not get some quite useful information by sending some of his representatives to learn the gentle art of advertising from the manufacturers of mustard. I am perfectly certain that the public at the present moment does not realise what the conveniences of this system are. If they were better known prejudices would very largely disappear, especially amongst women, who now resent paying the charge of fourpence which is made for carrying out the transaction. They would realise that they are not worse off but rather better off by resorting to the C.O D. system. They overlook the fact that when they carry out a transaction in the ordinary way and send a cheque, that costs them two-pence and then they have to put a three-halfpenny stamp on the letter to send off the cheque—bang goes threepence halfpenny! It costs only one halfpenny more to resort to the C.O.D. system which gives in return very great conveniences.

They would also realise, I think, that shopping by C.O.D. is a very great check on what is known as profiteering and the charging of excessive prices. It gives them a much wider range of purchase; it does not limit them to their local traders, who are very often inclined to charge more than they would if they felt there was a wider competition. I think traders also would realise the manner in which this system eliminates bad debts. It is quite extraordinary how small sums mount up and how difficult it is very often to get those small sums paid. I do not know why it is but it is a fact that traders who are owed small sums constantly have to expend quite a considerable amount in postage in trying to get them paid by people who would not think anything of paying a very much larger sum, but who put the bills for these small sums on one side and do not think anything more of them. For small holders not to be paid the small sums due to them is very often a great inconvenience. I am certain that if this system were better known it would be more appreciated both by the public and the traders themselves.

We think that an extension of it to letter post is very necessary. There are hundreds of small articles which people resent paying 6d. for in order to have the article come by parcel post. At the present moment, one cannot take advantage of the C.O.D. system unless you get articles by parcel post. How often do we send our spectacles or eyeglasses to be mended? How often do articles of jewellery or ladies' sewing silks which they send to be matched, or ribbons, laces and various small articles in constant use, go by letter post? People resent using the C.O.D. system for them because they do not want to pay the rate charged for a heavy parcel. Therefore I strongly suggest that the Postmaster-General, after his year's experience of the present regulations, which were admittedly only experimental, should now go a little further and extend the system. That would result in increased business and, I believe, in increased profit to the Post Office. I beg to ask for this information and to move for Papers.

THE LORD SPEAKER

My Lords, I have no anxiety to join in the debate but, in the interest of order, I desire to make a most sincere protest. I Have no right to raise points of order any more than any other member of your Lordships' House, but I have the same right as any other member. It is perfectly well known that certain Benches in this House are earmarked for the Episcopal Bench, that it is out of order for members of the Episcopal Bench to address the House from any other Benches, and for any layman to address the House from the Episcopal Benches. The noble Earl has made his speech from the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I cannot imagine anyone among the laymen more suited to be a Bishop than my noble friend, but I must point out that until he is a Bishop we must listen to him from elsewhere. I must therefore make a very sincere protest against a grave breach of order.

THE EARL OF DENBIGH

My Lords, I can only offer my apologies to the House.

THE EARL OF LUCAN

My Lords, as the noble Earl said, it is a convenient time to ask for an account of the Cash-on-Delivery service, which has now been in operation for a year. It was brought in a year ago and the system is straightforward and effective. The sender has only to fill in a form, hand it with the parcel over the counter at a money order office, and he receives his remittance by a crossed money order payable through his bank. The total number of parcels posted since the introduction of the service is now over 1,000,000 and the present rate of posting exceeds 1,200,000 per annum. The Post Office is constantly in touch with the business community and any suggestions for improvements have been given prompt and careful consideration. The Post Office have received a number of unsolicited testimonials as to the efficiency and promptness of the service and as to the absence of "red tape."

The use made of the service for the transmission of agricultural produce has been very limited. It is not practicable to determine precisely the number of agricultural parcels sent by this service, but it is certainly small, the reason being that the value of most agricultural produce is low in relation to its bulk and weight, so that the Cash-on-Delivery system can only be used commercially for the more expensive produce, such as eggs, cream, honey and poultry, in fairly heavy consignments. The system, however, has been of great service to certain other trades, particularly those dealing in motor parts and drapery. It has been particularly useful for small consignments, the average value per parcel being about £1.

As regards advertising, the Postmaster-General, having provided the service, considers it the duty of the Post Office to bring the service to the notice of the public, but he does not consider it either obligatory or legitimate for the Post Office to urge the public to take advantage of it in preference to other forms of purchase and remittance. It is not for the Post Office to endeavour to bias people in favour of Cash-on-Delivery as against other alternatives. It received wide publicity in the Press and elsewhere on its introduction and the extent to which it is already used suggests that its existence is well known to those who are likely to take advantage of it. As regards the extension of it to the letter post, the Postmaster-General is aware that the extension of the Cash-on-Delivery system to letters would be of value to some commercial interests, but there are practical difficulties in the way of such an extension. He quite appreciates that it would be valued in certain quarters and he will give the question his close consideration.

THE EARL OF DENBIGH

My Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Earl for the information he has given and I am glad to realise that the results are encouraging. I hope due consideration will be given to the point with regard to letter post. There has been one objection urged against it, that it might perhaps be made use of to obtain payment of unpaid bills. If there was a stringent regulation made that it was an offence to make any use whatever of the C.O.D. system for bills not requested to be sent in that way, or for articles not ordered, there would, I think, be no objection. I can only hope that the Postmaster-General will see his way to extend the system. I beg to ask leave to withdraw my Motion.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.