§ Brigadier-General CROFTasked the Postmaster-General (1) what is the number of losses of registered and unregistered postal packets reported by the public during the past 12 months;
(2) Whether the number of losses of registered and unregistered postal packets reported by the public during the past 12 months constitutes a record; and what is the number of convictions of thieves that have been discovered during the past 12 months?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHThe number of inland registered postal packets, the loss of which in the post in the British Islands was admitted and paid for during the twelve months ending the 31st March, 1919, is 1,168. The number of unregistered parcels is 21,116. I cannot give a figure for unregistered letters because no compensation is payable in respect of such losses. The number of persons convicted for thefts in the British Islands of or out of postal packets, whether inland or foreign, during the twelve months ending 31st March, 1919, was 233. Figures for the year ending on the 31st instant are not yet available. Theft from the post increased during the War, but the conditions to which the increase was due are now, I believe, to a considerable extent passing away, and I hope that the return will in future show a substantial improvement.